What a year 2024 turned

out to be ! We started out

the year coming off of an

impressive 26.3 % return by

the market ( S & P 500 ) which

stood at 4,745.20 at the

end of 2023 . But even with

those great results , many

people were on edge for

what was coming in 2024 .

After sputtering out of the gate in January , the market had a great first quarter ending at 5,254.35 for a 10.7 % return . Economic indicators were positive with inflation just north of 3 %, home sales increasing and consumer confidence rising . One of the main conversations at the time ( as it would be through the rest of the year ) was the upcoming presidential election and the primaries .

Growing uncertainty showed its face in the second quarter as the market declined to 4,987.33 through April 22nd , a 5.1 % loss in just three weeks . We were concerned about inflation levels that were higher than expected and fears that the Fed ’ s tactics might not have been enough . The market quickly recovered from this sharp decline and finished the quarter at 5,482.87 , up 4.3 %.

Just when we thought it was safe , we started off the second quarter with an assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13th , the rhetoric of the Republican National Convention , and an announcement by Joe Biden that he would not seek a second term as President . That ’ s a ton of news and we are only three weeks into the new quarter . Not surprisingly , the market suffered another stressful run — dropping 4.6 % in the first week of August . Once again , though , investors looked through the news of the day , allowed sanity to return , and saw the market finish at 5,762.48 ( up 5.1 % for the quarter ).

The last quarter of 2024 continued to have nervous moments , due mainly to the pending election with additional threats from hurricane damage across the Southeast and conflict in Israel . After the outcome of the election in November , we thought we were in for a great run in the market after a “ Trump Bump ” in early November . However , uncertainty returned in December where we saw the market retreat at the end of the year . With all the turmoil , the market ended at 5,906.94 , up another 2.5 % for the quarter .

What lesson we can learn from last year ?

There is always something to worry about when investing in the market . From inflation , political uncertainty , foreign unrest and natural disasters , there was a lot to be concerned about in 2024 . But through it all , the market was up more than 23 % for the year . In years past , there were other concerns and looking forward , there will be unforeseen challenges that we must face as investors . Does that mean that stocks will go up again in 2025 ? Absolutely not , but chances are pretty good given the fact that the market posts a positive annual return 73 % of the time .

As a long-term investor , we know that it ’ s inevitable that we will be faced with a challenging market from time to time . There is no way to avoid it . But we take solace in the fact that we know that by staying in place through those challenges and only taking the amount of risk that is appropriate for us , we can weather any storm that is upcoming .

Shaw Pritchett is a

Financial Advisor and

President of Jackson

Thornton Wealth

Management in

Montgomery .

SHAW PRITCHETT

334.240.3679

64 CentrAL Inc !