The average intra-year max drawdown in the U.S. stock market is closer to 14% and of course last year the S&P was down 34% in a matter of weeks.
Volatility is basically non-existent this year. Not only have there now been 50 new all-time highs through the close on Monday, but just 3 days in which the S&P 500 was down by 2% or worse. In contrast, last year saw 25 down days of 2% or worse. That includes the 16 days with losses of 3% or worse. The worst daily loss in 2021 is just 2.6%.
And it’s not just the behemoth tech stocks propping up the market this year. Yes, some of the quatro-comma market cap tech stocks are doing well this year:
Through last Friday, nearly 50% of the 505 stocks in the S&P 500 have gains of 20% or higher this year. And 70% of S&P 500 corporations are up at least 10% on the year.
(It’s fitting that the best performer in the entire market this year, by a long shot, is vaccine-producer Moderna. It’s up almost 300%. The next best-performing stock is up around 120%.)