October 21, 2015 - that’s the date Doc Brown set to travel forward in time at the end of the movie “Back to the Future”. If you are old enough to remember 1985, you likely watched it on the big screen and heard Doc Brown’s excitement as he said “I always dreamed of seeing the future”.

U.S. equities tumbled lower last week with the S&P 500 logging its worst week since February following the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday in which the central bank indicated plans to begin the process of reducing monetary accommodation. Easy monetary policy since the onset of the pandemic has helped push market valuations to extended levels, and the prospect of tapering that support could let some of the air out.

Stocks ended the day and the week slightly higher Friday, as investors shrugged off a report showing inflation in the U.S. rising 5%, its fastest pace since 2008. The major stock market averages posted a mixed showing, with the Nasdaq up 1.9% for its fourth straight weekly gain, the S&P 500 showing a 0.4% gain, and the Dow Jones falling 0.8% for the week.

Every day in the financial media, we are inundated with numbers and statistics; “The market was up 1.2% today”, “The S&P hit an all-time high”, “The market had it worst 11 day period ever”, “The market had its best 3 day run in the last 40 years”….

U.S. equities logged modest gains last week and closed the week just off all-time highs as the monthly employment report for May continued to show progress in the healing of the labor market but fell short of expectations for the second month in a row. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.6%, while the Dow Jones and Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.