This year of 2024 has brought us so much change. We will have a new political administration. We have a new most valuable company; Nvidia. New ways to shop. New driverless taxis. New streaming TV shows. New AI technology. New lower interest rates. And…we have new all-time stock market highs!”
My college economics professor had a mantra: “change is good”. For some, change does not feel good. Maya Angelou wrote, “What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” Elaine Welterroth, former editor of Teen Vogue may have addressed change best: “When the music changes, so must your dance.”
Unfortunately, we still have wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. We have had more devastating fires and hurricanes. We have homelessness, hunger and poverty. Social media has transformed us from looking at each other to looking at our phones. (In Australia, the government has banned social media for those under 16 years old.) We have astronauts stranded for six months in space. Ozempic is now a household word.
The S&P 500 is up 29% this yar. It has leaped over record highs 50 times. The best investment styles this year have been small, medium, and large company growth. All are ahead by more than 25% year to date. The best 2024 sectors through last week have been Communications +40%, Technology +39%, and Financials +35%.[i]
Pacific Sun has enjoyed riding this wave of positivity in equities. As our clients have grown, we have grown. We continue to serve you by addressing your goals, your risk tolerance and your needs for preservation and growth.
The majority of RMDs (Required Minimum Distributions from IRAs, Pensions, etc.) have been sent early this year. We urge you to send us any year-end money requests early and to allow us plenty of time to process during this busy December.
We hope you had a delicious Thanksgiving with your loved ones all around you. We wish you a healthy, happy and profitable final chapter of 2024.
Mitch Fisher & Ryan Fisher
[i] JP Morgan Asset Management Weekly 12/9/24