Freedom Advisory

The chart shows that large market declines of 1% or more occur regularly; there have been 31 such days each year since 1990. While these drops can be unsettling, they are a natural part of investing in stocks and should be expected.

In 2026, the S&P 500 experienced 16 days with declines of 1% or more.

Despite daily fluctuations, the stock market has historically rewarded long-term investors. Staying disciplined through volatility has enabled investors to benefit from the S&P 500's long-term upward trajectory.

📈 Markets Continue Climbing, but Not for the Reason Many Think

One of the biggest misconceptions is that stocks rise simply because investors are willing to pay higher prices.

This chart tells a different story.

Over the last two years:

🔵 Forward earnings expectations for the S&P 500 have increased approximately 43%.

🟠 Forward P/E multiples have actually declined by about 5%.

⚪ The index has gained roughly 35%.

In other words, most of the market's advance has been driven by improving corporate earnings, not by investors paying increasingly higher valuation multiples.

That's an important distinction.

When earnings grow faster than stock prices, valuations can actually become more reasonable, even as the market reaches new highs.

It also serves as a reminder that focusing solely on headlines or index levels can cause investors to miss what is really driving long-term returns.

At Freedom Advisory, we believe successful investing comes from separating signal from noise and staying focused on the fundamentals.

Data source: Bloomberg. Chart compares S&P 500 price appreciation, forward 12-month earnings estimates, and forward P/E multiple changes over the past two years. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

The chart illustrates the year-to-date returns of various asset classes in 2026, providing a snapshot of how different investments have performed so far.

Year-to-date, the worst performing asset class is Bitcoin with a return of -33.0%, while the best performing asset class is Int. Emerging Stocks with a return of 25.7%.

The data presented can help investors understand how their portfolios align with the performance of different asset classes in the current year.

The chart tracks the S&P 500 Total Return (YoY) alongside 12-Month Forward Earnings Growth (YoY) since 2000.

Over the past 12 months, the S&P 500 has generated a total return of 22.0%, with 12-month forward earnings estimates rising 32.3%.

While short-term swings are driven by sentiment and noise, the long-term message is clear. Earnings growth is the engine behind stock returns.

This chart shows how long you're expected to live based on your current age, split by gender. Here's the part people miss: the older you get, the longer you're expected to live. Hitting 80 doesn't mean you're near the end. It means your odds of reaching your 90s just went way up.

A 50-year-old man is expected to live to 80, while a woman is expected to live to 83. But if that same man reaches 80, he's now expected to make it to 89. Reach 90 and the number climbs to 94. Women live longer than men at every age, but the gap shrinks from 3 years at 50 to 1 year by 90.

Living for 30 years in retirement was rare. Now it's common. The harder problem isn't running out of time, it's running out of money before you run out of life. That means income that holds up into your 90s, a spending pace that can go the distance, and coverage that fits a longer life than most people plan for.

The S&P 500 annual return bars reflect the total percentage change in the index over a full calendar year. The diamonds reflect the largest drawdowns within each year.

From 1990 to 2025, the S&P 500 has delivered an average annual return of 10.1%. This impressive performance, however, has been accompanied by volatility, as investors have faced an average intra-year drawdown of -14.1% during that period. This shows that while gains have historically been significant in the S&P 500, they have not come without volatility.

In the current year, the S&P 500 has posted a year-to-date return of 5% and an intra-year drawdown of -9%.

Markets are sending mixed signals right now. Short-term weakness across equities contrasts with still-solid 3–5 year returns, especially in tech and large caps. Volatility picking up again is a reminder: discipline and asset allocation matter more than timing.