Stocktake: 2021 is ‘as good as it gets’ for investors

Stocktake noted recently that 2021 has been an unusually easy year for investors. Since then, things have got even easier.

How easy? Well, the S&P 500 enjoyed nine all-time highs in August alone – the most for any year since 1929, LPL Research strategist Ryan Detrick noted last week. The index hit its 50th record high for the year, putting it on pace to beat 1995's record of 77 new highs in a single year.

Stocks have hit new highs every month this year; only once (in 2014) did stocks enjoy a new high every single month.

The S&P 500 is up more than 20 per cent in 2021 – not much better than 2020's 18.4 per cent gain, notes Ritholtz Wealth Management's Ben Carlson, but 2021's gains "have been much easier to come by". Last year, stocks suffered an epic collapse before roaring back; this year, the worst peak-to-trough drawdown has been just 4 per cent. This year has seen just three days where the S&P 500 fell by 2 per cent or more, compared with 25 last year.