Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Opinion
Nir Kaissar

Stocks’ Fundamental Swings Still Apply as Time Goes By

More than a century of data show that declines in the equity market most often precede slumps in earnings rather than the other way around.

Jiving

Photographer: Express Newspapers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

By

U.S. stocks have been shaky lately. Volatility spiked in February after years of calm, and the market continues to be bumpy. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index has gone nowhere this year, down 1 percent through Monday.

Investors, however, needn’t fear that the recent volatility will turn into a rout because “the fundamentals are strong.” Or at least, that’s the refrain Wall Street analysts never tire of crooning for investors.