What To Expect From The Markets In A Recession

 | Aug 08, 2022 01:52AM ET

  • History shows that a recession is a needed pullback to make the markets pliable for new highs
  • The last three recessions occurred in the new millennium
  • Historically, recessions last an average of 17 months
  • The big R word is upon us. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of declining gross domestic product (GDP). By this definition, we are in a recession based on the first quarter 2022 GDP decline of (-1.6%), and second quarter GDP decline of (-0.9%). It’s worth taking a look at previous recessions in the electronic trading era to alleviate some of the fear of the unknown. Every recession in the U.S. stock market history has resulted in a higher market afterwards. History shows that a recession is a needed pullback to make the markets pliable for new highs. Keep in mind this only applies to the benchmark indexes like the S&P 500 and not to every individual stock. This is because the benchmark indexes regularly swap out underperforming stocks to keep them buoyant and rising long-term. Each recession has resulted the creation of more bagholders that believed the hype and rode their positions all the way down. Not every stock survives a recession or bear market, only the indexes are destined to rally back. Historically, recessions last an average of 17 months. Stock markets also tend to rally prior to the end of each recession. Investors that seek individual stocks can consider taking some of the highest weighted components in the S&P 500 like the top three including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) as these stocks tend to lead the index movements on the way up (and down).