DIMENSIONAL’S QUARTERLY MARKET REVIEW (Q2 2020)
If there was a clear message from second quarter markets, it’s that you never know. Even as we saw headlines that “At Least a Fourth of US Economy Goes Idle from Lockdown,” we saw others informing us that “US Stocks Close Out Best Quarter Since 1998.”
What can we make of this? In short, Q2 offered a crash course in how critical it is to stay invested in both stocks and bonds, even during the dark days. Because you never know precisely when stock markets are going to swing around and outperform (as they are expected to do over the long run).
In this case, stock markets around the globe delivered surprisingly positive returns in Q2. U.S. stock markets surged the strongest, in part due to the “FAANG” companies (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google/Alphabet) that currently dominate the view. That said, we’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it ends. The headlines could shift just as swiftly if bad news were to bring any of these Goliaths down. This could send an over-concentrated U.S. stock portfolio to the cutting room floor.
In these pandemic days, it’s even easier to see how anything is possible, which is why patient global diversification is always advisable. Because you never know.
VIEW PDF: Quarterly Market Review (QMR) – Q2 2020