Blink and you missed it - what a market! Here's a quick summary of what has taken place over the last couple of months. We'll use February 28th as the starting point for the US/Iran conflict with the S&P 500 standing at 6,878 to start that day. The market fell to a low of 6,343 on 3/30/26, which represented a 7.8% drop from 2/28. Since then, it has rebounded to new all-time highs of 7,123 as I type these words, which is a 12.3% increase from the low on 3/30 and 3.6% increase from before the conflict even started!
The "why" concerning this "whipsaw" is the important part though...In my humble opinion, the market is a bit of an "over-reactor" we'll say - sometimes to good news and sometimes bad news. I feel like I say this every time I write a piece, but in the end what matters the most is Corporate America, not geo-politics, not the Federal Reserve, not President Trump or former President Biden or whether the Republicans or Democrats control congress, not some analyst opinion on TV, but actual straight talk from Corporate America. We buy shares of companies and here is what the largest 500 US companies (S&P500) are saying about their First Quarter 2026 Earnings Results thus far.
Revenue growth of 9.4% is nothing to "sneeze at", and 86% of companies beating their earnings estimates thus far is also phenomenal. Furthermore, here's some history regarding what has happened in the past when quarterly earnings have been up BUT quarterly stock market returns were negative. Average 12-month forward returns were 15.6%.
Who knows what the future holds and this thing could certainly turn south all over again. After all, I try to never take a strong market for granted, but the clear takeaway here should be...Stay calm. Stay invested. And keep our eye on Corporate 
Until Next Time,
Brock W. Rouch CIMA®
Managing Partner
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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.
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