Performance vs. S&P 500 by Uses of Cash S&P 500 companies using cash for mergers and acquisitions have outperformed since December 2017. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

FAANG Stocks Dominate Returns since 2010 This chart shows the importance of FAANG stocks to the post-crisis market recovery. Image: Financial Times

S&P 500 Forward P/E Forecast Goldman Sachs forecasts a forward P/E of 18.6 by year-end, and a downside scenario at 16, depending on tariffs and the US election result. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

S&P 500 Valuation Metric Is the U.S. equity market overvalued? The S&P 500’s median valuation metric is in the 89th percentile. That’s not cheap by historical standards. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

U.S. Jobless Claims and Recession Currently, U.S. jobless claims look good. This chart suggests that jobless claims tend to rise above the red line, prior to a recession.

U.S. Real Interest Rates and Recessions Currently, U.S. real interest rates are negative. In recent history, real interest rates were at least above 1.8% (orange line) before a recession.

Cumulative Weekly Fund Flows In terms of fund flows, this chart highlights the decade of fixed income. Image: BofA Global Research

Big-Data Analysis of the U.S. Business Cycle and NBER Recession Chart showing that the short-sample indicator improved and moved into the “Boom” regime last November. Image: BofA Global Research

Dow Jones Annual Change with All Major Conflicts since WWI Chart showing how the Dow Jones has behaved in times of conflict. The best annual return took place during WWI. Image: Ryan Detrick, LPL Financial…

The Rise of Passive Investing – Index Funds and ETFs Passive investments continue to grow. Index funds smash through the $10tn-in-assets mark. Image: Financial Times

U.S. ISM Non-Manufacturing Index (All History) Chart suggesting that the U.S. non-manufacturing sector is slowly improving. Image: Nordea and Macrobond