With the end of another year in sight, local Edward Jones Certified Financial Planner Jason Spanhook says 2024 was a strong market year due to one significant narrative change that occurred a year ago:
“The federal government stopped raising interest rates, that is a huge deal. Any business owner that has to borrow money understands what a big deal that is to them and our farmers definitely understand. That affects corporate America as well. The SNP500, the 500 largest companies in the United States, they borrow money too and if they can borrow money at a lower rate, it is good for business. While the federal government actually did not cut rates until about a month ago, we knew they were going to stop raising, which coupled with good profit numbers, good job numbers, it has been a very strong market this year. One of our analysts just that there have been 22 times in United States history where the interest rates were cut by the feds and the numbers were as strong as they are, and out of those 20 times, 20 times the market was up ten percent a year a few years later. That is definitely not a guarantee, but numbers don’t lie.”
