Free Report · Q2 2026 Edition

Where the market sits, in 75 years of history.

The Market Normality Report shows where today’s S&P 500 sits inside three-quarters of a century of historical data, across four simple metrics. A reference for serious investors and the advisors who guide them.

Twelve pages. Brand-designed. Print-ready for your desk.

&check;75 years of S&P data&check;Four metrics, fully explained&check;Updated quarterly&check;Free, unsubscribe anytime

Why this matters now

Most investors don’t know where they actually are.

Every week the financial press tells you the market is doing something unprecedented. A correction nobody saw coming. A rally that defies the fundamentals. Usually, none of it is true. Markets do what markets do. Drawdowns happen. Recoveries happen.

The problem isn’t that markets are unpredictable. The problem is that most investors don’t have a frame of reference. This report is that frame.

What’s inside

Twelve pages of context, designed to keep on your desk.

The current market position across four metrics

Drawdown from all-time high, distance from the 200-day average, 12-month rolling return, and year-to-date return — each classified into one of five empirical zones (Compressed / Routine / Elevated / Stretched / Extreme).

75 years of historical context

How often the market has occupied each zone since 1950. The figure that turns a panic-inducing chyron into a routine reading.

Forward-return statistics by zone

What 1-year and 3-year returns historically followed each zone. Including how often forward returns were positive — the data financial media never shows.

Recent analogs

The last time each metric sat in today's zone, with the date and reading. Compare today to specific historical moments rather than to the abstraction of an average.

How serious investors and advisors actually use it

Five concrete use cases — from morning sanity check to client-conversation primer to conference-room talking point.

Methodology and full disclosures

How the zones were constructed, how forward returns were computed, what the data captures and what it doesn't. Citation-ready for advisor-client conversations.

About Advising Alpha

You don’t have to be a stock market guru to invest like one.

Advising Alpha helps serious investors stop guessing and start growing. We show you what’s actually working on Wall Street through time-tested model portfolios, weekly briefs that cut through the noise, and the discipline to compound through every market.

The Market Normality Report is one of the free tools we publish to help investors and advisors think more clearly about markets. The Sunday Brief — also free — lands every week with new context, commentary, and a fresh look at where the market sits.

Why we’re a publisher, not a Registered Investment Adviser →

Get the report. Read it on screen. Print it for your desk.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Twelve pages, designed for a reader who wants context, not noise.