S&P 500 Hits New Highs Ahead of Four-Year Bull Market Anniversary: Market Expert Says ‘Party Isn’t Over Yet’

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) hit new all-time highs this week and many investors are likely celebrating. One market expert says the party won’t stop anytime soon. Bull Market Nears Four Years Well-known market expert Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, regularly shares thoughts on the current bull market and why investors should ignore negative headlines. In a recent blog post, Detrick highlighted that the S&P 500 hit new all-time highs about a week before the current bull market turned four years old. The current bull market started on Oct. 12, 2022, and is still going strong. "Congratulations to all the bulls out there who held firm, even when we were told repeatedly why a big crash was coming," Detrick said. Detrick said negative headlines like AI bubble fears, the Federal Reserve raising rates, soaring yields and market breadth weakening weren’t enough to slow down the current bull market. "The bottom line is all the worries we’ve heard about nonstop haven’t stopped this bull market. We are aware there are worries and concerns out there, but we’ve remained bullish this whole time." Detrick said investors are celebrating the 27th new high for the S&P 500 in 2026, but the market is likely to go higher. Read Also: EXCLUSIVE: Ryan Detrick Shares A Political Trend For 2026 That Has Produced 'Some Really Solid Returns' What Happens Next Historically, the fourth quarter is the best quarter for stocks, Detrick writes. Historically, stocks are up 80% of the time in the fourth quarter, with an average gain of 4.2%. Detrick recently shared a chart showing how much bull markets gain in their fifth years, with only one of the eight bull markets longer than four years ending in the fifth year. Going back 50 years, bull markets that made it four years all made it to their fifth birthday, averaging eight years. "We aren’t saying this bull is only halfway over, but we are saying to be open to this one lasting a lot longer," Detrick said. Here are the bull markets that made it past five years and their gains in the fifth year: Bull Market YearsReturn First Four YearsReturn in Year 51974 to 1980+63.7%+5.4% 1982 to 1987+131.2% +36.3%1987 to 2000+67.9% +13.4% 2002 to 2007+73.9% +16.0% 2009 to 2020+129.3% +21.0% 2022 to 2026+118.6% To be Determined The chart shows that the current four-year bull market gain is among the strongest in recent history. The average gain in year five of the past five bull markets was +18.4%. Time will tell whether the current bull market can produce above-average results, as the trend suggests. Read Also: EXCLUSIVE: Forget Fed's 2% Goal — Higher Inflation Could Be 'Pretty Darn Good' For Stocks, Ryan Detrick Says Photo Courtesy Ryan Detrick