The U.S. stock market just delivered its strongest six-year stretch since the 1990s.
Through August 2026, the S&P 500 has posted a compound annual growth rate of more than 15% — well above the historical average of 11.3% going back to 1988. That's the strongest six-year run since the one that began in 1994, just as the dot-com era was taking shape.
Now here's what makes that remarkable.
The wall of worry it that has come up
Ben Carlson, director of institutional asset management at Ritholtz Wealth Management, compiled a list of the headlines investors would have had to ignore to capture those returns. Here's a sample:
- A global pandemic
- The fastest 30%+ drawdown in history
- 40-year-high inflation of 9%
- $140-a-barrel oil
- The Fed hiking rates 75 basis points in back-to-back meetings
- The 2022 bear market
- The worst bond-market crash in history
- One of the worst years ever for a 60/40 portfolio
- Mortgage rates going from 3% to 8%
- A commercial real-estate crisis scare
- The Silicon Valley Bank crisis
- "Liberation Day" tariffs
- The Iran war
- 30-year Treasury yields hitting their highest levels since 2007
That's not a cherry-picked list. That's the actual backdrop. Every single one of those headlines was real, scary, and widely covered as a reason to sell.
The cost of getting out
To have captured the full 15%+ annual return, you would have needed to stay invested continuously through all of it. That means sitting through the 2022 bear market. That means holding when every headline screamed sell.
According to Cetera Financial Group, the average annual maximum drawdown for the S&P 500 since 1980 has been 14.6%. In hindsight, every one of those was a dip worth buying.
But in the moment? Easier said than done.
Why the market keeps climbing
Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera, put it simply: "You've got a war with Iran, you have uncertainty around tariffs, uncertainty around the Fed and uncertainty around inflation — yet the market mostly shrugs, because corporate earnings have been so strong."
As of mid-August 2026, the S&P 500 was on track to report a blended year-over-year EPS growth rate of 50.5% for the second quarter — the strongest since Q2 2021. And analysts expect the momentum to continue through 2026 and 2027.
The lesson isn't that bad news doesn't matter. It's that bad news is always happening — and the market has historically priced it in and moved higher.
What this means for you
The investors who stayed were rewarded. The investors who timed, in most cases, were not.
As Sam Ro, author of TKer, noted: "Worrisome events have been happening since the beginning of time, and there's no reason to believe they'll ever stop. It's just a reality that investors have to live with."
That reality is exactly why stocks deliver higher returns than other assets. Investors demand compensation for the uncertainty. The risk IS the return.
You can't control the headlines. You can control whether you stay invested.
That's not a prediction about tomorrow. It's a pattern that's held for decades. And it's the foundation of how we approach long-term wealth management at Tempus Wealth Management in Hillsboro Beach.
Ready to talk?Schedule a complimentary consultation.
This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. Securities and advisory services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Please consult a qualified financial professional regarding your individual circumstances.