28 Remarkable Facts About The Market And The Economy

Below we highlight several notable, remarkable and otherwise noteworthy market observations compiled from across the Goldman trading desk by the bank's head of hedge fund coverage Tony Pasquariello:

1. The S&P typically makes money in nearly four of every five years: going back to 1945, the average annual total return of S&P is +12%, with 78% of all years positive. For context, the YTD total return is +20%.

2. If you invested $1,000 in the S&P500 in 1945, you would have $3.4 million today (a return of 3,400x). If that money was only invested from May through October, you would have $10,000 today (a return of 10x). Now, if that money was only invested from November through April, you would have $340,000 today (a return of 340x). This illustrates both the influence of the "best six months" seasonal, as well as the truly immense power of compounding.