• From 1789 to 1989, the U.S. debt reached $2.9 trillion. Since then, it has grown by $33 trillion, over 10 times more in just 35 years. By 2030, mandatory spending and interest payments are expected to surpass tax revenue, leading to a permanent deficit. ₁

• Since 1928, when the S&P 500 has had a gain of 20%+ by November, it has averaged an additional 5.4% gain in the last two months, with positive returns 13 out of 16 times. In other years, the average gain is 1.7%. _*2

• The number of publicly traded stocks in the entire U.S. stock market peaked at 7,378 stocks in 1998. Now, it has 3,370 stocks due to acquisitions, bankruptcies, and fewer IPOs. ₃

• U.S. homebuyers are now the oldest on record, with the median age of first-time buyers reaching 38. That's up from 35 last year and marks a new high in data going back to 1981. ₄

Sources:

1. WSJ - "How to Grow Out of America’s Debt Woes"
2. MFS - "Beyond the News"
3. Barrons - "Small-Cap Stocks Are Vanishing. 5 Funds to Play the New Landscape."
4. Axios - "America's homebuyers are older than ever"

*Past performance is not indicative of future performance