Historical Similarities -- The Current Equity Market Feels A Lot Like 1994 -- CNBC -- July 15, 2024

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To understand what CNBC is saying about the incredible 1994 bond crash / market recovery, this might be a reasonable article to read and consider:

From the linked article:

Stock investors should brush up on their Macarena skills and then sit down for a few episodes of "Seinfeld." These days, it's feeling a lot like the 1990s, some say.

For many investors, that brings to mind the overheated stock market of the tech bubble that spread in 1999, only to burst in early 2000.

But there were nine more years to the decade. The middle of the 1990s in particular was especially good for investors, with stocks posting big gains despite a slow-growth economy dubbed the "jobless recovery."

"While hoping the finale doesn't also repeat, we are seeing a lot of similarities between today's environment and the mid-1990s," says Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab.

Recently, stocks have struggled to extend the big rally of 2013, when the S&P 500 index rose nearly 30%. So far this year, the S&P is up 0.89%, and some say the bull market is showing signs of fatigue.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has been the scene of most of the recent carnage. It's lost 6% since its March 5 high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, by contrast, is down 1% since its record set on Dec. 31.

Back in 1994, stocks stumbled but then quickly recovered as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. And in another similarity to today's backdrop, Washington was bitterly divided. Partisan fighting led to federal-government shutdowns in 1995 and 1996. But, as has been the case lately, the federal budget deficit narrowed.