Interest Rate Cuts: A Blessing or a Curse for Your Stocks?

Of the last 10 Fed policy-easing cycles—going back to 1974—the S&P 500 has returned 11% on average in the 12 months following the first rate cut. That’s slightly below the index’s average return of 12% a year since the start of the 1970s. However, half of those 10 rate cuts were followed within 12 months by a recession.