Good Medicine: U.S.-Stock Funds Rose 13.4% in November


The stock market apparently was vaccinated in November.

A furious stock rally, fueled by positive news on Covid-19 vaccines, pushed the average diversified U.S.-stock fund to a 13.4% total return in November, according to Refinitiv Lipper data. The month’s gains pushed the average stock fund into the black for the year to date, at 12.9%.

International-stock funds, similarly, rallied 13.3%. They still trail U.S. funds, though, with a year-to-date gain of 6.7%.

While the vaccine gets credit, along with an election result that could mean gridlock in Washington (something that many investors don’t mind), it is still the Federal Reserve that rules markets.

Bob Shea, chief executive officer of TrimTabs Asset Management in New York, says the most important thing is that the Fed under Jerome Powell in September signaled that it expects to hold interest rates near zero for at least three more years.



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