The long-term trend in the U.S. stock market has been higher. Since 1960, stocks have shown positive annual performances almost 75% of the time. The average annual gain has been 11%, with a standard deviation of 17%. By these numbers, 2024 is a good-but-not-yet exceptional year, as the S&P 500 is up 23% year to date. The strongest return of any one year was the 37% advance in 1995. 2008, during the Great Recession, was the lowest-performing year in which the S&P 500 fell 37%. By deciles, annual returns most often fall in the 10-20% range. This has occurred 16 times. In second place, perhaps surprisingly, is returns in the 20-30% range. This has occurred 13 times, including in 2023. What does this say for 2025? Well, returns aren't exactly random, and patterns do emerge. There have been eight instances since 1960 in which the stock market has risen at least three years in a row, including long runs of eight years in the 1980s, nine years in the 1990s, and eight years from 2009-2017. Thus the historical trends seem to back another positive year for equities next year. What's more important, of course, will be the fundamentals. Given our outlook for economic growth next year, declining interest rates, and positive corporate profit growth, we think the current bull market, now in its second year, has more room to run.

Baker Hughes was formed from the merger of Baker Hughes Inc. and GE's oil and gas business in July 2017. BKR is the world's third-largest oil services company, with annual revenues of $25.5 billion in 2023, and approximately 55,000 employees. Over the long term, it expects to generate approximately 30% of revenue from the U.S. and 70% from international markets.

Stocks were mixed on Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 higher, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling back once again. Tesla's consensus-beating results and guidance powered the Nasdaq, while disappointing results from IBM dragged on the Dow. The Nasdaq was up 0.76%, the S&P 500 gained 0.21%, and the Dow fell back by 0.33%.

Baker Hughes is a global leader in oilfield services and oilfield equipment, with particularly strong presences in the artificial lift, specialty chemicals, and completions markets. It maintains modest exposure to offshore oil and gas production. The other half of its business focuses on industrial power generation, process solutions, and industrial asset management, with a high exposure to the liquid natural gas market specifically, as well as broader industrials end markets.