Market Averages – Investment Returns Investing has its risks.  Investing in the equities market has its risks and volatility.  Every investor must assess his/her ability to live with both overall risk and seasonal volatility.  According to investment broker Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. since 1926 equities have generated an average of 10.7% annual return.  But that does not mean that every year has generated that return.  Some years have been down years, as much as 28%. Of course, not all stocks perform in sync with the market.   Some stocks are up, when others are down.  Writing for the “On Investing” magazine, Greg Forsythe notes that in the 52 week period ending on 12/5/2005, the average stock with a Schwab Equity Rating generated an investment return of 10.76%.  He goes on to say that within the 3,015 individual stocks, “returns ranged from -98.9% to +531.2%, and 1,229 stocks (40.8% of the total) actually lost money!”

Content © Rich Brott, 2011

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