Perspectives Newsletter: Q4, 2024
Investors hoping for a Santa Claus rally were instead left with a lump of coal as the market turned in its worst performance over the final trading days of the year since Eisenhower trounced Stevenson to become President. Following an initial rush higher on the heels of an unexpected Republican sweep in the November elections, markets limped to the finish with December joining April as the only months of 2024 in which the S&P 500 posted negative returns. For the month, weakness became more pronounced further down the market capitalization scale. The final month swoon meant mid and small-cap stocks were essentially dead money for the quarter. Value stocks, after a one quarter reprieve, were again the laggards when compared to Growth, with over nine percentage points separating their returns in the quarter, resulting in Growth more than doubling Value’s performance for the year. International markets managed to fare a bit better than the U.S. for December but trailed badly for the quarter and the year. Few major investment vehicles benefitted more from the election outcome than Bitcoin: The price for the digital coin rose 47% in the weeks following November 5th. Like stocks, Bitcoin’s rally lost steam in December but still managed to post eye-popping gains for the year.
