Now is a good point in the year to not lose focus on the long-term prize.
Quick insight: With Wall Street trading desks light, summer vacations in full swing, and fears of Fed rate hikes swirling, stocks have come under pressure — especially the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC).
But a well-timed note from the Goldman Sachs team offers a bit of helpful perspective.
Goldman noted that the S&P 500 (^GSPC) is up 95% since the end of 2022, placing the current bull market in the strongest 10% at this stage of the cycle, based on data going back to 1928.
By comparison, the top 25% of historical bull markets gained about 50% over the same period, and the median bull market delivered just 35% after three-and-a-half years. Since the April 2025 low, the S&P 500 has surged 51%.
“Market momentum is incredibly strong,” strategists at the Kobeissi Letter said.
The current state of play: The stock market has been an absolute dumpster fire over the past five trading sessions, with the pain coming from multiple directions simultaneously.
The memory chip sector, which was 2026’s single hottest trade, has been hammered, with semiconductor stocks losing roughly $1.5 trillion in market value since June 25 alone. Micron (MU) is down nearly $350 billion in market cap by itself, while Sandisk (SNDK), Intel (INTC), Applied Materials (AMAT), and Lam Research (LRCX) have each shed more than $100 billion — a bloodbath driven by a toxic cocktail of profit-taking after parabolic gains.
Read more: How to protect your money during turmoil, stock market volatility
President Trump’s announcement reinstating what he called a blockade on Iranian shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices surging and triggered a broad market sell-off, reminding investors that geopolitical risk hasn’t gone anywhere and that the Fed’s ability to cut rates gets significantly more complicated when energy prices are spiking.
Then Netflix (NFLX) delivered the gut punch to end the week. Shares dropped 8% in early trading on Friday as the streaming giant delivered its second straight less-than-stellar quarter. Investors were having none of the BS Netflix executives were spinning on the earnings call.
The bottom line: The market has taken a few deserved hits of late — nothing goes up and to the right forever. But as Goldman pointed out, market momentum remains strong and will take a lot more ugly news to unsettle the bulls.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor, host of the Power Players with Brian Sozzi podcast, and a member of Yahoo Finance’s editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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