It’s been a wild ride for investors the last 15 months, but I sincerely believe things are improving, despite some of the new developments in the banking sector.

The stock market is a leading indicator, and will change directions before good or bad things resolve themselves. Right now, the market appears to have priced in most of the (known) bad news, meaning it could be that we have already seen the bottom (which happened in September of last year).

For a longer-term perspective, I’ve attached a chart below showing the S&P 500 Index (comprised of the 500 largest companies in the United States – a better indicator than the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but I also included that for reference) over the last 10 years, through March 31st. Note that it is up 161% during that arbitrary time period, which represents a return of just over 10% per year on average, despite: a collapse in oil prices, Brexit, ISIS attacks, two tumultuous presidential elections, a trade war with China, Covid-19 shutdowns, high inflation, and a whole lot of other things!

It’s this long-term perspective that I want you to remember. There have always been good reasons to NOT be invested, which is why we continue to have the fortitude to stay invested.