S&P 500 Closes In On 5000

The S&P 500 closed at a new record high today of 4994.63. This is the Rodney Dangerfield of bull markets: it's getting no respect. The naysayers say that it is too narrow to be a real bull market. Narrowness also makes it vulnerable to a reversal, according to them. However, they aren't giving the bull market due credit. It's true that a handful of stocks have had huge gains since October 12, 2022 when the bull market began. However, plenty of other stocks have posted solid double digit gains as reflected in the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 (chart).

Led by Information Technology and Communication Services, S&P 500 Growth has outperformed S&P 500 Value since the start of the bull market (chart). Energy and Utilities have been the worst performing sectors, but Financials, Health Care, and Industrials have done very well.