The fourth quarter and 2021 are now officially in the books. After a rocky end to the third quarter, US equities quickly rebounded in October. Aided by generally strong earnings reports, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gained around 7% for the month, with the Dow posting a gain of nearly 6%.

The sideways, rotational market that began in Q2 continued throughout Q3. The persistent tug-of-war between Growth (Technology) and Value (Financials, Industrials) is still ongoing and closely tied to interest rates.

Rotation, rotation, rotation….after significant post-election gains for all of the major averages, the market was overdue for a breather. The quarter began much like the prior quarter- with lots of optimism and talk of record earnings and economic numbers.