It’s quarter end and the S&P 500 posted its first loss since December 2012 for the quarter. But the U.S. index is still up for the year, despite Greece, Greece, Greece, and China. Shanghai, by the way, is up 32.2% for the year. But guess what. It is still off 30.2% from its 2007 high.
June broke a four-month streak in the U.S. markets: no new record highs.
Here’s the second quarter top stats from Howard Silverblatt, senior analyst, S&P Dow Jones Indices:
Takeaways:
The market closed June off 2.10%, as it posted a 0.23% decline for Q2,’15, the first quarterly decline since the 1.01% decline in Q4,’12; but the YTD is still up 0.20%
…
The Shanghai Composite declined 17.4% from its June 12, 2015 high, but it remained up 32.2% year-to-date, 108.8% for the 1-year, and OFF 30.2% from its October 2007 high.
The Supreme Court validated the healthcare tax credits, which all but guaranteed the continuation of M&A in that sector (as well as coverage, think retail – more sales, so consolidations pay).
Companies continue to buy more of their own shares, therefore reducing share count and boosting EPS; 12% of the issues had at least a 4% tailwind built-in for Q2 based on their Q1 shares—and that is before any Q2 buybacks.
Photo by iStock @Ugurhan Betin