The S&P 500 is on track to deliver its second consecutive year of 20+% returns—a milestone it has not achieved since 1998, the last time the US economy simultaneously experienced a soft landing and tech revolution. The S&P 500 is also on pace to deliver its strongest performance leading into an election year since 1932. With the strong gains pushing the S&P 500 up to Raymond James 12-month (Sept 2025) target of 5,850, it begs the question: is our 12-month forecast too low? Right now, we do not think so. With the election around the corner, we expect to continue to see volatility in the short term. In the meantime, take a look at some of the articles below that can provide some insight into the United States’s economic landscape and market.

A look into Inflation and Prices
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/10/cpi-inflation-september-2024.html

6 Reasons to Have Life Insurance
https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/reasons-to-have-life-insurance

The Illusive Soft Landing, Can We Get There?
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/04/fed-close-to-pulling-off-the-elusive-economic-soft-landing-in-2024-after-great-september-jobs-report.html

Markets and Investing During Election Years
https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/what-will-stock-market-do-as-election-nears

The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index of 500 widely held stocks that is generally considered representative of the U.S. stock market. Any opinions are those of the author and not necessarily those of Raymond James.