Hi
Enjoy this curated list of Sweat Your Assets monthly content for July 2023.
MARKET BAROMETER
An eye view of Stock Market Indicators, ss of July 28, 2023:
[this month | previous month | % changes over five years].
- VIX (volatility index) - the fear gauge: 13.33 | 13.51 | +14.52%
- S&P 500: 4,582.23 | 4,376.86 | +
61.33%
- S&P 500 P/E Ratio: 26.53 | 25.61 | +16%
- VTSAX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund: USD 110.85 | 105.57 | +55.64%
- BND - Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund: USD 72.29 | 72.99 |
-8.45%
- VNQ - Vanguard REITS - Real Estate: USD 84.71 | 83.11 | +1.96%
You might have noticed: the US stocks have enjoyed an impressive rally in 2023, thanks to a combination of cooling inflation, fading recession fears, and hype over artificial intelligence. I bet your investment portfolio has benefitted from the same market rally.
As usual, strong growth calls for caution. From a probabilistic viewpoint, the higher the prices of asset classes(i.e., P/E ratios), the higher the chances for (abrupt or slow) downward adjustments. No wonder you will still hear prophets of doom predicting bear markets.
Indeed, It is fair to state that average stock prices are
historically high right now; allocating a low probability for higher growth is technically correct. However, the future is unknown, and that's a good thing.
Personally, I maintain the course. I will stay invested with my all-weather portfolio in August. Any upcoming bear market will only be a time for deals or portfolio re-balancing.
