Why US stocks have a spring in their step

America’s S&P 500 has rallied by more than 50% since the March lows and recently closed just short of an all-time high.

Who says equity markets are “dislocated from reality”, asks a Morgan Stanley note. America’s S&P 500 has rallied by more than 50% since the March lows and closed just short of an all-time high on Monday. In a year marked by a devastating pandemic the index is up by more than 3%. Yet earnings have been surprisingly chipper, suggesting that everything is not quite as grim as predicted.

Clearing a very low bar

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.