Today, I’m sharing seven of my favorite investing & economic charts from the past month.

These charts cover topics such as:

• History of bull markets
• U.S. economic growth
• Consumer wages (and satisfaction)
• ...and more!

Let's dive in. 👇

Favorite Charts (October 2024)

#1 - This Has Been One of the Fastest Bull Markets in History

The S&P’s 63% gain through the first two years makes this the third fastest start to a bull market since the 1940s.

Interestingly, the two bull markets that started faster (1974 and 2009) had vastly different outcomes, so who knows what the future may hold. But it sure has been an incredible start.

#2 - A Big Part of That Return Has Been This Year’s Performance

Year-to-date, this has been the best-performing market since 1997 and the 13th best in history.

#3 - The Bull Market Is Still Young (Compared to History)

With the new all-time highs attained, it’s natural to wonder how much life this bull market might have left in it.

Well, the median bull market since 1950 has lasted about five years and returned about 114%.

As previously noted, we are two years in with a return of 63%.

There’s obviously no way to know how long or how far this will go, but historically speaking, there is room to run.

#4 - It’s Not Just the U.S. Stock Market, Nearly Everything Is Up

When we look across the broad spectrum of asset classes, it’s clear that the U.S. is not the only game in town.

Emerging markets, gold, bonds, European equities, the dollar, and global debt are all having a great year, amongst many other asset classes.

That’s not to say that everyone is making money since behavior is the critical factor, but this has been about as “easy” of a year to be an investor as I can remember.

#5 - Not Only Is the Market Rolling but So Is the Economy

Since the fourth quarter of 2022 (the start of this bull market), U.S. GDP has grown from $26 trillion to $29 trillion, which is an 8% increase over the last two years.

And the growth appears to be continuing with the Atlanta Fed predicting a growth rate of 3.2% for the third quarter.

#6 - The Consumer Continues to Be In Great Shape as Well

In addition to wages hitting new highs relative to inflation since the start of 2020, households are experiencing all-time highs in home prices, money market funds, and total net worth.

Household debt-to-disposable-income is near multi-decade lows, and personal savings rates are trending up.

Additionally, these benefits aren’t just accruing to the wealthy— the bottom 50% of households have nearly doubled their net worth since the pandemic, outgaining all other households by almost 2X.

#7 - Everything Is Terrible, but I’m Fine

With a roaring stock market, robust economy, and resilient consumers, you might think that everybody feels good about the current state of affairs, but that is not the case.

Gallup recently released a poll that shows an incredible disparity between our satisfaction with our own lives and with the U.S. in general.

It appears that we have yet to abandon the pandemic-era holdover of “Everything is terrible, but I’m fine.”

Bottom Line

Given how good everything is, I can only assume that the pessimistic views of our world are largely driven by the constant drumbeat of negativity that is shared on social media and by the mainstream media.

How else could this disparity exist? Your answer is as good as mine.

Stay wealthy,

Taylor Schulte, CFP®