Today, August 22 is the day the current bull market eclipses the bull run of the 1990s, which on Tuesday, had been the lengthiest bull market in modern history.
Well, if we’re splitting hairs, the S&P 500 Index must pass its closing high registered on January 26 before it can officially be declared the new champ. On Tuesday, it was within about 9 points of closing above its previous high.
While it appears set to become the longest-running bull market, the title for the best performance remains in the hands of the great run-up of the 1990s. You see, the S&P 500 is up 322% since the bottom in March 2009. The 1990s saw a gain from trough to peak of 417%.
Then, there are some folks–purists–who might argue the bear market of 1990, whose peak-to-trough decline extended to 19.92%, didn’t quite meet the true definition of a bear market–a 20.00% decline. For those folks, the bull market that peaked in 2000 began its climb after the 1987 market crash.
Sure, we can argue back and forth on this one, but there is one reality I think most of us can agree with.
Stocks go up and stocks go down. But long term, markets have an upward bias. A disciplined and diversified approach, which is rooted in time-tested investment principles, has historically put investors on a path to meet their financial goals.