Charts of the Week: The US Stock Market’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Pretty Great Year

Charts of the Week: The US Stock Market’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Pretty Great Year

 

It seems 2025 has been both a good year and a bad year for the US stock market:

  •  April’s sell-off of nearly 20% was a gut-wrenching experience that tested the nerves of many investors. There have really only been two intra-year declines that were worse than the tariff tantrum in the last 15 years (Fig. 1).
  • The year-to-date total return of the S&P (19.1% as of December 2) puts 2025’s performance in the top half since 1990 and top quartile since 2006 (Fig. 2).

Fig. 1: Calendar year performance and intra-year drawdowns, S&P 500

Source: Bloomberg, Mill Creek. As of 12/2/2025.

Fig. 2: S&P 500 performance, 2006-2025 ytd

Source: Bloomberg, Mill Creek. As of 12/2/2025.

 

Disclosures & Important Information

Any views expressed above represent the opinions of Mill Creek Capital Advisers ("MCCA") and are not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results. This information is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, particular investment advice. This publication has been prepared by MCCA. The publication is provided for information purposes only. The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources that

MCCA believes to be reliable, but MCCA does not represent or warrant that it is accurate or complete. The views in this publication are those of MCCA and are subject to change, and MCCA has no obligation to update its opinions or the information in this publication. While MCCA has obtained information believed to be reliable, MCCA, nor any of their respective officers, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.

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