I’ve always said that the stock prices of well-run businesses in aggregate (the stock market) are resilient, but that has never been more evident than over the last year. Tested and tried in so many different ways, the S&P 500 finished last week at a record closing level. Despite many reasons for concern, corporate profits and earnings of most publicly traded businesses are surprisingly strong, and those corporate earnings are what drives the stock market at the end of the day.
Notable Number 4 in the attached Weekly Market Review details that 81% of the deaths related to COVID occur in Americans age 65 and older. The hope and goal is to get this demographic vaccinated and protected as quickly as possible. Once we have achieved this milestone, while still prevalent, the COVID-19 virus will be much less scary and should allow many of us to resume more normalcy in our lives.
Sad is one word that I feel best describes my thoughts about the events that occurred last Wednesday at the Capitol. Attempting to adequately answer my young children’s questions about the events we all witnessed last week was difficult. Freedom of speech, the right to publicly voice our political opinions, and protest are civil liberties that we should all hold dear as US citizens. Over the last year so many protests have stepped well over the line. My prayer is that, as a citizens of this country, we can find civility, mutual respect, and peace while healthy and spirited dialogue and debate occur with regard to politics.
Click HERE for the Weekly Market Review
Have a great week!
Trevor N. Coe, CFP®