Here's the Biggest Risk Facing Stock Market in 2024

investing.com:

The question on everyone's mind right now is: What does 2024 have in store for markets?

While it might appear mundane, the trajectory of the stock market in the upcoming year is anything but certain.

It could persist in its upward trend or pivot downward, contingent on factors like interest rates, inflation, economic growth in major regions, corporate earnings, investor sentiment, or any unforeseen events.

Up to this point, the most substantial risk might be presuming a predetermined course for the market.

I'm not suggesting that forecasting is unwarranted; it's crucial for future financial planning. However, we should be prepared for unforeseen developments and factor them into our plans.

In essence, absolute certainty often carries the risk of being proven wrong—a phenomenon not uncommon in our daily lives.

Last year, at the same time as we are today, the Financial Times published a survey that more than 80% of economists were certain, thus predicting with certainty, a recession in 2023.

Do you still think a recession is coming? People, in general, are often bound to be wrong, and as I said before, it is appropriate to expect anything.

I think, as with 2023, we will have to try to ride the market rather than outperform it, and if predicting the future is difficult perhaps it would be wiser to start with what we know.

For much of 2023, we saw investors' money flow into Treasuries, then we saw the largest outflow from Treasuries since June 2020 into equities.

Flows into equity funds have seen the largest inflows in 2 months since March 2022, and more and more people are chasing the rally.

Equities, to date, have simply followed their seasonal trends. There is nothing to worry about (at the moment).

It is when markets