Building Fortifications
February 15, 2019 by Karen Demasters
A decade has passed since the second worst recession of modern times wiped out more than $10 trillion in stock and home values. People are feeling good about the sustained bull market.
But nothing good lasts forever and it will all come down again at some point, but probably not with the crash that shook the financial ground in 2008. At that time, stocks took a $6.9 trillion tumble and homeowners lost $3.3 trillion in home values.
The stock market has gained more than 300% since bottoming out in early 2009, and many economists and advisors feel it cannot be sustained at the current level for much longer. That kind of thinking became widespread in last year’s fourth quarter, when the S&P 500 declined 19.8%.
However, the next downturn is unlikely to replay 2008 and 2009 all over again. “Both companies and individuals have better balance sheets now than they did in 2008,” says James Sullivan, vice president and financial advisor at Essex Financial, a financial services firm in Essex, Conn. The unemployment rate is still good and the economy, although slowing, is still growing. “That will stop the snowball effect we had 10 years ago.”
Click HERE to read the full story via Financial Advisor.
