The AEC Lens 
Alex Carrick, Chief Economist at ConstructConnect
Alex Carrick is Chief Economist for ConstructConnect. He is a frequent contributor to the Daily Commercial News and the Journal of Commerce. He has delivered presentations throughout North America on the Canadian, United States and world construction outlooks. A trusted and often-quoted source for … More » Stock Markets Look Beyond Pandemic to Set Record HighsJanuary 6th, 2021 by Alex Carrick, Chief Economist at ConstructConnect
The U.S. economy may have been battered by the full-on return of the coronavirus contagion in 2020’s fourth quarter, but the nation’s principal stock markets were unfazed. The DJI, S&P 500, and NASDAQ all set new highs in December.
Compared with their low points in late March of last year, NASDAQ ended 2020 up by nearly double (+94.4%), the DJI and S&P 500 were ahead by between two-thirds and three-quarters (+68.0% and +71.4% respectively) and the TSX climbed by slightly more than half (+56%). The Russell 2000 index, comprised of small cap companies, also performed well, +18.4% year over year and an outstanding +8.5% in December alone. The improvements in the indices continued to be fueled by high-tech companies, which are now said to make up 40% of the S&P 500’s total market valuation. Among the FAAMG group of companies, Apple was the leader at +83.8% year over year (i.e., Dec 31 2020 vs Dec 31 2019). Next in line were Amazon, +76.3%; Microsoft, +42.5%; Facebook, +33.1%; and Alphabet, +30.9%. Concerning that last figure of +30.9%, the ‘least’ of the FAAMG companies still managed an equity appreciation of nearly one-third.
Most stunning of all, though, was the year-end closing value of Tesla’s stock, +743.4% relative to where it started the year. Table 1: Stock exchanges – performances of key indices – December 31, 2020
 Sources: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Standard and Poor’s (S & P), National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) and Reuters. Table: ConstructConnect. Graph 1: U.S. Stock Markets − December 31, 2020 Closings
 Red vertical lines denote Feb 2009 major ‘troughs’ for the indices.
Latest data points are for Dec. 31, 2020. Data sources: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Standard and Poor’s (S & P), National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), Reuters & Yahoo. Chart: ConstructConnect. Graph 2: Latest 52-Week Performances of FAAMG (Big Tech) Stocks
(Each day’s closing value compared with Dec. 31, 2019 (i.e., year-before) value  Data Sources: NYSE, Standard & Poor’s, NASDAQ, Reuters & Yahoo.
Chart: ConstructConnect. Graph 3: Performances of key stock market indices during last year
 Data sources: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Standard and Poor’s (S & P), National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) and Reuters. Graph 4: Performances of key stock market indices since 2008-09 troughs
 Data sources: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Standard and Poor’s (S & P), National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) and Reuters. Table 2: Key Domestic & International Stock Market Indices – December 31, 2020
 ‘”Ticker symbols” are in brackets. MSCI (formerly Morgan Stanley Capital International) is a leading provider of investment decision support tools, with indices as one specialty. “iShares” is a web site that specializes in “exchange traded funds”, or ETFs, managed by BlackRock Investments LLC.
Data Source: ‘finance.yahoo.com’
Table: ConstructConnect. Graph 5: Stock Market Performances: U.S. & Canada vs Rest of World
Year over Year as of Month-end Closings, December 31, 2020  iShares is a web site that specializes in “exchange traded funds”, or ETFs, managed by BlackRock Investments LLC.
Data Source: ‘finance.yahoo.com’
Table: ConstructConnect. Graph 6: New York Stock Exchange: Dow-Jones Industrials (30)
 Areas of gray shading denote century’s 2 prior recessions (‘dot.com’ collapse in 2001 & Great Recession Q1 08 to Q2 09). The chart shows month-end closing figures. The latest data point is for December 31, 2020.
Data sources: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Standard and Poor’s (S & P), National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) and Reuters. Chart: ConstructConnect. Graph 7: New York Stock Exchange: Standard and Poor’s (500)
 Areas of gray shading denote century’s 2 prior recessions (‘dot.com’ collapse in 2001 & Great Recession Q1 08 to Q2 09). The chart shows month-end closing figures. The latest data point is for December 31, 2020.
Data sources: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Standard and Poor’s (S & P), National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) and Reuters. Chart: ConstructConnect. Graph 8: NASDAQ Composite Index
 Areas of gray shading denote century’s 2 prior recessions (‘dot.com’ collapse in 2001 & Great Recession Q1 08 to Q2 09). The chart shows month-end closing figures. The latest data point is for December 31, 2020.
Data sources: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Standard and Poor’s (S & P), National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) and Reuters. Chart: ConstructConnect. Graph 9: S&P/TSX Composite Index: Toronto Stock Exchange
 Area of gray shading denotes Canada’s earlier recession in current century (Q4 2008 to Q2 2009; no ‘dot.com’ collapse). The chart shows month-end closing figures. The latest data point is for December 31, 2020.
Data sources: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Standard and Poor’s (S & P), National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) and Reuters. Chart: ConstructConnect. Category: ConstructConnect |
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