*by Kevin Slater, CEO, Lead Advisor, CFP®*

2023 was a great year for almost every asset class. Equities were all up double digits! It was virtually the opposite of 2022. Unlike in 2022, nearly everything made money. In another contrast to 2022, investors in commodities suffered losses.

What this chart doesn’t tell you is how we got there. While 322 of the S&P 500 stocks ended the year in the black; the gains from just 7 stocks accounted for over half of the overall performance of the index. And as late as early November, the US bond index and the emerging markets index were at a loss for the year. All of their gains and then some came in the last two months of the year.

2023 was a great year for disciplined investors who were patient and remained invested despite 2022 and the ups and downs of 2023. However, it was not a great year for those who attempted to time the market or were chasing commodity returns from 2022.