By Dan Lefkovitz of Morningstar

I recently opened a second-quarter investment account statement, not to euphoria — but relief.

Let’s not forget, U.S. equities flirted with a bear market earlier this year. There were concerns that China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence would bring down U.S. technology titans. There were the tariffs.

Yet, here we sit in the third quarter of 2025 with the Morningstar U.S. Market Index up nearly 8% for the year and the Morningstar U.S. Core Bond Index having returned more than 3%.

Ahead of us lie multiple pathways. Economic data and earnings announcements will provide direction, but there are also “unknown unknowns” that could alter our course.

Here are three investment principles to keep in mind.

Principle 1: Where the market goes, nobody knows

Comin

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