Much to be thankful for
The Sandbox Daily (11.21.2025)
Welcome, Sandbox friends.
Quick publisher’s note before we begin today:
The Sandbox Daily will be taking next week off for family vacation and Thanksgiving holiday, returning to your inbox on Monday, December 1st with our regularly scheduled programming.
Onward…
Today’s Daily discusses:
much to be thankful for
Let’s dig in.
Markets in review
EQUITIES: Russell 2000 +2.80% | Dow +1.08% | S&P 500 +0.98% | Nasdaq 100 +0.77%
FIXED INCOME: Barclays Agg Bond +0.24% | High Yield +0.34% | 2yr UST 3.505% | 10yr UST 4.067%
COMMODITIES: Brent Crude -1.42% to $62.48/barrel. Gold +0.07% to $4,062.5/oz.
BITCOIN: -2.34% to $85,151
US DOLLAR INDEX: +0.03% to 100.183
CBOE TOTAL PUT/CALL RATIO: 0.95
VIX: -11.32% to 23.43
Quote of the day
“Life is an echo. What you send out comes back. What you sow, you reap. What you give, you get. What you see in others, exists in you. Remember life is an echo. It always gets back to you. So give goodness.”
- Zig Ziglar
Much to be thankful for
As the holiday season begins, it’s the perfect time to pause and appreciate what we have, both in our personal and financial lives.
This is particularly important since we as investors tend to focus on what could go wrong rather than what has gone right.
With markets performing well, let’s reflect on the past year to gain perspective as we look ahead to 2026.
Markets have delivered strong returns this year. The S&P 500 is up double digits for the 3rd consecutive year, while bonds return mid-single digits. International stocks have outperformed U.S. stocks for the first time in many years, while gold continues its supercycle. Many diversified portfolios have benefited from this broad-based positive performance.
We can be grateful that financial markets have performed well again this year despite its periodic stumbles.
This bull market cycle began after the market bottom in October 2022 and is now entering its fourth year. We know from history that bull markets tend to last much longer than bear markets. This resilience underscores an important principle: for most investors, time and compounding are your greatest allies.
We should also appreciate the importance of ongoing risk management and proper asset allocation among your assets.
Remember the April tariff announcement? Markets fell close to bear market levels, only to rebound quickly in the face of incredible uncertainty and rise to new all-time highs. Investors who remained disciplined were rewarded, while those who reacted to headlines may have missed opportunities.
The year ahead will likely bring new sources of uncertainty, as every year does.
Questions about the artificial intelligence buildout will persist into 2026. It’s natural that the effect on stock prices is difficult to predict given the transformative nature and unknown outcomes of the technology, similar to how the internet revolution unfolded beginning in the mid-1990s.
Trade and economic uncertainty will continue – albeit under lower intensity – as national debt concerns surface in waves, the Trump administration pursues its agenda around tariffs, and the Federal Reserve navigates its interest rate cutting cycle while welcoming a new chair to replace outgoing chair Jerome Powell.
Of course, a whole host of other risks will surface – some known, some unknown.
Recent history underscores that reacting to these events is not only counterproductive but can derail your financial plan.
The holiday season is an ideal time to reflect on the many reasons we should all be thankful.
And yet, the best things in life don’t even show up on your statement.
Time with the people we love, good health, and the small pockets of calm we manage to find in a fast-moving and noisy world.
A ball game with your kids. A glass of wine with your spouse. A simple hug.
The air in our lungs.
These are the real treasures in life.
And, of course, you the reader – I’m grateful to reach your inbox each week and share my thoughts. Time is the ultimate currency of life, so thanks for spending a few minutes each day with me.
So, as we head into year-end, let’s cheers together: our progress, our relationships, and the moments of love that make it all worthwhile.
That’s all for today.
Blake
Questions about your financial goals or future?
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Welcome to The Sandbox Daily, a daily curation of relevant research at the intersection of markets, economics, and lifestyle. We are committed to delivering high-quality and timely content to help investors make sense of capital markets.
Blake Millard is the Director of Investments at Sandbox Financial Partners, a Registered Investment Advisor. All opinions expressed here are solely his opinion and do not express or reflect the opinion of Sandbox Financial Partners. This Substack channel is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. The information and opinions provided within should not be taken as specific advice on the merits of any investment decision by the reader. Investors should conduct their own due diligence regarding the prospects of any security discussed herein based on such investors’ own review of publicly available information. Clients of Sandbox Financial Partners may maintain positions in the markets, indexes, corporations, and/or securities discussed within The Sandbox Daily. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates stated here are forward looking statements and are inherently unreliable; they are based upon certain assumptions and should not be construed to be indicative of the actual events that will occur.
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Happy Thanksgiving, Blake! We appreciate you!