The Motley Fool

OCTOBER 20, 2024

If you're not sure where to invest in the stock market, you should consider holding an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in your portfolio. ETFs hold dozens, hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of stocks. Vanguard funds, in particular, are popular choices due to their low fees and solid stock selection.

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The Motley Fool

MARCH 19, 2025

stock market has had a rough start to 2025, with all three major indexes ( S&P 500 , Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones) down through March 17. Learn More Needless to say, the stock market has seen better days. A natural part of the stock market cycle Corrections and sell-offs are a natural part of the stock market.

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The Motley Fool

DECEMBER 15, 2024

But when it comes to building durable wealth in the stock market, I'm working with a really short list of strategies proven to deliver strong results over time. You don't have to find "the next big thing" before anybody else, and you don't have to take out a second mortgage to finance your stock-buying plans. Let me explain.

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The Motley Fool

MARCH 19, 2025

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) is one of the largest and most popular exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the stock market. It tracks the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) market index with minimal fees and laser-like precision. Wake up with Breakfast news in your inbox every market day. First things first.

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The Motley Fool

MARCH 26, 2025

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index returned 25% (including dividends) in 2024, which was more than double its long-term average of 10.5%. Large Cap Growth Index delivered an even better gain of 32% last year, thanks to its much larger holdings in soaring stocks like Nvidia , Meta Platforms , and Amazon. However, the CRSP U.S.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Rate cuts have usually been a positive catalyst for the stock market, though there have been exceptions to that rule. How the Federal Reserve influences interest rates The federal funds rate is a benchmark that influences other interest rates throughout the economy. In that sense, rate cuts can be good news for the stock market.

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The Motley Fool

DECEMBER 3, 2024

On top of that, the S&P 500 has shown its strength over time, generating an annualized average return of more than 10% since its debut as a 500-company index. Of course, it's pretty difficult and expensive to buy all 500 stocks in the index -- but you don't have to do that to access all of these exciting players across industries.

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The Motley Fool

OCTOBER 5, 2024

Warren Buffett has never claimed to be able to predict what the stock market would do over the near term. In a 2008 op-ed for The New York Times , he wrote, "I can't predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven't the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month, or a year, from now."

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The Motley Fool

AUGUST 29, 2024

The stock market is having a good year despite headwinds from sticky inflation and high interest rates. Stocks could move higher. However, the stock market could be headed for trouble, at least temporarily, because the S&P 500 usually declines in September. stock market. Embrace the rally."

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The Motley Fool

NOVEMBER 17, 2024

In September, the Federal Reserve started a new rate-cutting cycle, something the stock market has seen only five other times in the last three decades. Specifically, after raising the federal funds rate to a two-decade high to fight severe post-pandemic inflation, policymakers finally pivoted to interest rate cuts on Sept.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 29, 2024

Even looking past all the extreme volatility in the meantime, long-term returns have felt subpar for a while now. Factoring in its dividends pumps the typical yearly return up to a little more than 11%. And to its credit, the S&P 500's rolling 10-year-return track record is still respectable.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Macroeconomic fundamentals and corporate earnings drive the stock market over long periods of time, but momentum plays an important role over shorter periods. In other words, returns of at least 10% in the first 100 trading days have been a perfect predictor of full-year returns of at least 20%. stock market.

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The Motley Fool

FEBRUARY 12, 2025

The stock market continues to soar, with the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) reaching a new peak in late January and surging by more than 20% over the past year, as of this writing. Buffett explained that despite all of the volatility, he was continuing to invest in stocks. Image source: The Motley Fool.

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The Motley Fool

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

The benchmark S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) returned 19% in the past year, while the utilities sector surged 33% as domestic electricity demand reached a record high in 2024. The utilities sector achieved a total return of 34% over the last three years, while the S&P 500 returned 46%. Here are the important details.

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The Motley Fool

OCTOBER 3, 2024

Here's why tomorrow could be a big day for the stock market. Traders expect the federal funds rate to fall to a target range of 2.75% to 3% by December 2025. The jobs report tomorrow could potentially change the whole trajectory of the forward curve and how the market perceives the future path of the Fed.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024

The stock market has always been known for its volatility, but the past few months have been particularly rough for investors. Or should you hold off until the new year to see if stocks settle down? When is the right time to invest in the stock market? The market can be shaky in the short term.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 1, 2024

Stocks have produced some extremely strong returns during the current bull market. Since the S&P 500 reached a relative low in October 2022, the index has gone on to produce a total return of about 62% in less than two years. Those are some huge returns for investors. in December 2000.

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The Motley Fool

AUGUST 24, 2024

He manages most of Berkshire's equity investment portfolio, so record levels of relatively liquid capital imply he's struggling to find stocks worth buying in the current environment. One logical conclusion is that Buffett believes the stock market could decline sharply in the not-too-distant future.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

Between March 2022 and July 2023, policymakers raised the federal funds rate to its highest level since 2001. The federal funds rate is a benchmark that impacts other interest rates across the economy, like credit card and loan rates. That bodes well for stocks. That makes sense. Alternatively, the U.S.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 14, 2024

The market expects the committee to cut the benchmark federal funds rate for the first time since 2020, setting in motion a sequence of events that will lower other interest rates and encourage economic growth. stock market. First, no stock market indicator is perfect. 17 and Sept.

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The Motley Fool

OCTOBER 13, 2024

Thankfully, it has cooled significantly since then, which allowed the Fed to reduce the federal funds rate in September, for the first time since March 2020. The Fed started increasing the federal funds rate in March 2022, and by the last hike in August 2023, it was at a two-decade high of 5.33%. That drove prices higher.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 29, 2024

The stock index most often used to reference the U.S. large-cap stock market has climbed over 20% through 2024 as of this writing. But not every company has participated equally in the current market rally. Just a handful of the largest companies in the market have driven the vast majority of returns for the S&P 500.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

Don't try to time the S&P One smart lesson to learn is that timing the market is a losing battle. Just because a stock or index looks "expensive" doesn't mean it can't go up any further, or that a crash or pullback is imminent. 9, 2007), you would be sitting on a total return of 433% today.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024

When the rate deviates too far from that target, the Fed adjusts the federal funds rate (overnight interest rates) to influence economic activity. If history is any guide, such a cut could foreshadow a big move in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) stock market index, but maybe not in the direction one would expect.

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The Motley Fool

OCTOBER 28, 2024

Professional fund managers are extremely smart, highly educated, hard-working, and ultra-competitive. If you can perform in the top 2% of all professional fund managers on Wall Street, you're sure to find yourself with a very handsome payday at some point. All you have to do is buy a broad-based index fund and hold it for years.

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The Motley Fool

AUGUST 26, 2024

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are one of the best ways investors can build wealth. These funds are a lot like mutual funds with a key difference: You can trade them on the open market just like a stock. One of the most successful and largest fund managers is Vanguard, which offers 86 ETFs that hold $2.8

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The Motley Fool

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

Investing consistently over many years is the key to building a healthy retirement fund, and the longer you give your money to grow, the less you'll need to save each month to see significant progress. But the overall stock market has earned an average rate of return of 10% per year over the past 50 years.

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The Motley Fool

OCTOBER 21, 2024

This boring index fund has beaten the S&P 500 over its lifetime! Read on to discover how this simple index fund can be the simple millionaire-making investment you'll want in your portfolio. Beating the S&P 500 doesn't get more simple than this You don't need to be a stock-picking wizard to outperform the S&P 500 index.

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The Motley Fool

DECEMBER 15, 2024

Professional fund managers tend to be highly educated, hard-working, and extremely smart. But it doesn't take a highly complex trading plan to come out ahead of 98% of professional mutual fund managers over the long run. If you want to beat the professionals, your best bet is to buy a broad-based index fund and just hold onto it.

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The Motley Fool

MARCH 26, 2025

In fact, Berkshire sold the only two index funds in its portfolio, both of which tracked the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC). Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Warren Buffett sold his S&P 500 index funds, but he hasn't lost confidence in U.S. stock market.

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The Motley Fool

OCTOBER 26, 2024

Many investors gravitate toward dividend stocks for a reliable source of passive income, no matter what the stock market is doing. As mentioned, P&G plans to return $16 billion to $17 billion to investors. Here's a look at P&G's capital return program over the last decade. billion Stock buybacks $4.6

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The Motley Fool

NOVEMBER 3, 2024

But one indicator suggests the recent trend of the biggest companies getting bigger at a pace that far exceeds the rest of the market could be coming to an end soon. And there's a great way you can invest to take advantage of the next leg up in the stock market. Image source: Getty Images. When will the trend reverse?

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

On the other hand, since most Americans don't check all three of those boxes, there's no need to buy individual stocks to build serious wealth over time. In fact, you might be surprised at what you can potentially achieve with some basic index funds, steady contributions, and a few decades to let your investments grow. stock market.

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The Motley Fool

DECEMBER 14, 2024

The last couple of years have been strong for the stock market, with the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) surging by just over 70% since late 2022, as of this writing. However, no bull market can last forever, and the market will inevitably take a turn for the worse. Just over 30% of U.S.

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The Motley Fool

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

A 13F allows investors to see which stocks Wall Street's most-prominent and successful asset managers purchased and sold during the previous quarter. Although the data is potentially stale for active hedge funds, it offers a glimpse into which stocks, industries, sectors, and trends are piquing the interest of top money managers.

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The Motley Fool

JUNE 29, 2024

Professional fund managers are in charge of investing billions of dollars for investors. It doesn't take an advanced degree or special insider knowledge to do better than the vast majority of actively-managed mutual funds. There are a couple of factors that lead to such dismal results for active funds as a group.

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The Motley Fool

SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

Becoming a professional fund manager isn't easy, but it turns out that beating the returns of some of the best fund managers in the world is. It's a quirk of stock market mechanics that makes a simple investment strategy far better than the average actively managed mutual fund. Image source: Getty Images.

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