If we look at the historic performance, it becomes clear that the stock market is a good place for investment. However, the performance of the last few years shows that only a few shares are doing the heavy lifting.
Right now, a total of 7 stocks make up 33% of the total SP 500's value. As we head into 2025, that's a major risk that should be considered by investors.
The risk of concentration is something that can no longer be ignored at this point. The companies that are making up most of the gains in the SP 500 are also the best companies in the world.
However, this also raises some real risks and goes against the principle of not putting everything in one basket.
The key risk is antitrust, as big companies like Meta Platforms, Apple, Amazon are attracting regulators' attention.
If we look at this year, GOOG was ruled as an illegal monopoly by the US. On the surface, this looks fine, but it is actually a very serious issue.
The three recommendations by the DoJ basically amount to breaking up the company. They also include selling Google Chrome and the Android OS.
The same goes for Apple (AAPL) which is also under a lot of antitrust pressure. the P/E ratio of AAPL is 38 while it is classified in the growth category.
Right now, the antitrust issues are too big to be ignored and can also effect these big companies. In turn, this could have a major effect on the US stock market.
In the last few years, the tech sector has emerged as a source of safety for investors. However, that could also become an issue as we head into 2025.
There's no doubt that the stock market crash is a big concern in the year 2025. So, as investors buy stocks in the SP 500, the risks of the crashes should be kept in mind.