Clock Ticks on Bull Market With No New High for Stocks in a Year

  • Hitting a one-year anniversary without a record is rare
  • Fed adds to uncertainty with minutes, speeches by members

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, May 20.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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An up week in the S&P 500 Index did little to alleviate the frustration of U.S. investors who have now watched stocks go nowhere for a full year.

Yes, the S&P 500 rose over the last five days, halting a three-week slide that had been the longest since January. But the rally didn’t come close to ending a 12-month fallow period that the index has spent stuck below its all-time high. The stretch is one of the longest in the history of U.S. bull markets.