The S&P 500 Is About to Do Something It Hasn't Done in 26 Years. Here's What I Think That Means for Stocks in 2025.

It's not typical for the S&P 500 to generate 20% gains in a single year. Yet the index is on pace to do it for a second consecutive year, as it's up roughly 23% in 2024 at recent prices after gaining 24% in 2023. That's great news for investors, as that means they've generated some incredible returns since emerging from the last bear market. The excitement surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and what it can do for industries has opened up many new growth opportunities for businesses, sending their valuations soaring in the process.The concern, however, is that the broad index is punching above its weight, and that a slowdown may be inevitable. This type of performance is rare. Let's look at what it might mean for the markets heading into next year.Barring an end-of-year crash or correction, it seems safe to assume that the S&P 500 will finish the year up by at least 20%. The last time it had back-to-back years with gains that high was a four-year run from 1995 to 1998 in which it gained 34%, then 20%, then 31% and 27%, before just missing 20% to break the streak in 1999. The next three years, however, would see the index falling by at least 10% amid the dot-com crash.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool