The S&P 500 Price index returned -6.59% in 2018. Using a better calculation which includes dividend reinvestment, the S&P 500 returned -4.75%. The 2018 S&P 500 Return: Buy, Hold and Reinvest The quoted numbers require that you bought the opening trade on January 2nd, 2018 and sold the closing trade on December 31, 2018. If […]

The 2017 Bitcoin return was +1,318% not including any transaction fees. At midnight UTC after 12/31/2016 bitcoin traded at 998.33 a coin and one year later traded at 14,156.4 a coin. 2017 Bitcoin Return: Cryptocurrency is Not an Investment Bitcoin is a digital currency built on top of a public, digital ledger known as a […]

The S&P 500 and the broader equity markets continue to outperform and have seen annual inflation-adjusted 15.8% returns from March 2009 through the end of December 2017. More recently, from November 2016 to January 2017, the S&P 500 has returned 22.3% in total. Annual S&P 500 Returns Vary Wildly I started with each year's inflation […]

The 2017 NASDAQ return was +27.24% calculated from the price index. Using a better calculation which factors in dividend reinvestment, the NASDAQ returned +28.62% in 2017. The 2017 NASDAQ Return: Reinvest Your Dividends The above numbers assume you bought the NASDAQ index on January 3rd, 2017 and sold at close on December 29, 2017. The […]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average returned +24.39% in 2017. Using a calculation which includes dividend reinvestment, the Dow Jones returned +28.11%. 2017 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return: Reinvest Your Dividends Those numbers from the introduction are accurate for an index purchase on January 3rd, 2017 sold at close on December 29, 2017. Alternatively, if you […]

The S&P 500 Price index returned +18.74% in 2017. Using a better calculation which includes dividend reinvestment, the S&P 500 returned +21.14%. The 2017 S&P 500 Return: Buy, Hold and Reinvest The above quoted numbers are accurate if you bought the index at the opening price on January 3rd, 2017 and sold at the closing […]

With dividends included and reinvested, the 2016 NASDAQ Return was 11.28%.  The number you'll probably see quoted more often is 9.91%, which was the NASDAQ index price return. Those returns were realized between the 1/4/2016 market open and the 12/30/2016 close. Just like with the 2016 S&P 500 Return numbers, including dividends was the difference […]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average did not return 13.54% in 2016, although that is probably a number that you'll see quoted.  Adjusted for dividend reinvestment, the 2016 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return was actually 16.47%.  That's a full 2.93% points higher due to reinvested dividends. Dividend Reinvestment is Too Often Ignored As we wrote in […]

The S&P 500 Price index returned 9.84% in 2016 - and that is the number you'll see quoted most often in the press.  However, a more extensive calculation including dividends reveals that the true 2016 S&P 500 return was roughly 12.25%. Including Dividend Reinvestment is the Key to True Return Comparisons on the S&P 500 […]

Many other sites report that the NASDAQ returned +5.19% in 2015.  On the contrary: with dividends included and reinvested, the 2015 NASDAQ Return was +6.40%. Although including dividend reinvestment didn't switch a supposed loss into a gain (like it did with the S&P 500's 2015 return and the Dow Jones's 2015 return), it does show […]