At the end of March one year ago, the stock market was down by approximately 30 percent; certainly an abysmal first quarter, but as we now know, the markets went on an unexpected tear for the rest of the year. The first quarter of 2021 continues this momentum propelled by three factors: vaccine progress, government stimulus and expectations for more economic activity in the second half of the year.
The unexpected and unpredictable nature of the markets is all the more reason to take the long term approach to investing. Page 4 of our first quarter market review gives you the bird’s eye view of market growth over time. It’s these numbers that we feel are significant, not the day to day or even year to year fluctuations and volatility.
