Recessions and Stocks: These are the Facts

The new meme of the moment is that we’re “overdue” for a recession. As if there’s any such thing. Recessions don’t spring from the ground, fully formed, without warning and for no other reason than that we haven’t had one for awhile.

And, more importantly, the impact of a recession on your portfolio is not guaranteed to be chaotic – or even damaging – necessarily.

What if I told you that, over the last 90 years, stocks were equally likely to be positive during a recession as they were to be negative?

What if I told you that the average length of recessions has been cut in half in the post-WWII era from what it was before, and that the expansion periods between recessions have more than doubled?

My colleague Michael Batnick looked at the data on recessions and stock prices and you’ll be surprised by some of his findings.

I send you there now:

Are We Due For A Recession? (Irrelevant Investor)