The S&P 500 is up 15.4% in the three months ending Jan. 23, while both inflation and mortgage lending rates seem to be coming down. Yet household costs remain high (especially food, energy and consumer insurance costs), and military conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and other parts of the Middle East represent real economic and stock market risks.
Toss into the mix a volatile U.S. presidential election and artificial intelligence’s rising impact on human labor, and 2024 promises to be anything but a stable year for investors.
