Trendless Volatility; that is how you can accurately sum up 2015. We had all kinds of movement in the S&P 500 but when it all settled out, the market went nowhere.
To be precise, the S&P 500 declined 0.73% on a price basis for the full year. However, there were times when the index was up 3.7% and there were times when it was down 9.3%. But when it was all said and done, it ended basically flat.
We had a multitude of issues contributing to this flat performance; oil prices plummeted, political dysfunction continued, and geopolitical tensions increased. Frankly when you consider all the bad news, it seems improbable that the market wasn’t down more. I think that is because the mood of the average U.S. citizen is leaning more towards optimism than pessimism, as is evidenced by the current reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.
With this, I think it is fair to say that the resiliency of the market was due to the good mood of the U.S. citizens. The key question is; will that continue in 2016?
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