The Hidden Costs of Following the Crowd

SGH Wealth Management’s “Read What I’m Reading” Dec. 2024 | Dec. 10th, 2024

With the year not yet over, it’s fun to look back to a year ago today and see what Wall Street’s “experts” predicted the markets would close in 2024:

JPMorgan: S&P 500 Index @ $4,200
Morgan Stanley: S&P 500 Index @ $4,500
UBS: S&P 500 Index @ $4,600
Wells Fargo: S&P 500 Index @ $4,625
Goldman Sachs: S&P 500 Index @ $4,700
Barclays: S&P 500 Index @ $4,800
Bank of America: S&P 500 Index @ $5,000
RBC: S&P 500 Index @ $5,000
BMO: S&P 500 Index @ $5,100
CitiBank: S&P 500 Index @ $5,100

Survey says… S&P 500 Index as of market close on December 6th = $6,075

This puts the closest “expert” prediction only off by ~19%… lol. An economic hard landing, turbulent election year, the Middle East, Ukraine all made it hard for analysts to see the forest through the trees. Yet here we are, with the S&P 500 up over +20% for the second year in a row. The economy is booming here and abroad, with a +2.8% economic expansion in the U.S. economy heading into the final quarter.

Though it is entertaining to follow these crystal ball targets, the hard work of adaptability outperforms the feel-good fool’s gold of fortune-telling. Meaning it’s generally better to tune out all the irrelevant chatter and stick to Your Plan.

*SGH named as one of ETF.com’s Top 100 Financial Advisors in America based on portfolio performance, client retention, AUM growth and more… in the top link below