This article from Yahoo Finance will inform you that the major indexes of the American stock market all closed at record highs last Friday.  During the same week the 3rd Quarter of the year closed and the Funeral Director Daily Death Care Index (DCI) reported a close that indicated a 3.60% increase for the year-to-date.

 

Below you will see a chart of the individual four stocks that make up the Funeral Director Daily DCI Index and how they have performed in comparison to the major indexes for the Year-to-Date (YTD) 2025 up to the end of the 3rd Quarter on September 30 2025.  You will notice that the DCI trails every sector with the possible exception of Consumer Staples for stock price appreciation for YTD 2025.  One possible reason for this, however, is the small sample size of public companies with at least a portion of their business in Death Care.

 

 

 

 

As you can see funeral home, cemetery, and crematory operators Carriage Services and Service Corporation International have had positive results, as far as stock price apprecition goes,  so far in 2025 while the other two members of the DCI, Matthews International and Security National Financial Corporation have seen their stock price drop during the year.  It’s difficult to know why, but both Matthews International and Security National Financial have other operations outside of Death Care which may be holding back their stock appreciation in what has been, as noticed by the stock index gains, a rather robust period for public stock investors.

 

 

 

 

How About the Long-Term:  Just for the fun of it I went back to October 3, 2015, and looked at price appreciation (as recorded on Yahoo Finance) of the major indexes and also of the stocks that make up the Death Care Index.  If you had had $10,000 of either the index or a particular stock on October 3, 2015 and still held the index or stock, here’s what those indexes or stocks would be worth today (10/03/2025):

 

• Dow Jones Industrials Index:  $28,502
• Nasdaq Composite Index:  $50,780
• S&P 500 Index:  $34,992

 

And, here’s a chart of the Death Care Index values for the that hypothetical $10,000 investment as of October 3, 2015:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Information:

• Q3 2025 Market Recap:  10 Key takeaways investors need to know.  Investing.com
• Regions Bank Market Update video – October 3, 2025.  Regions Bank

 

Disclaimer:  The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Service Corporation International, Carriage Services, and Security National Financial Corporation.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Goodwin University’s Funeral Service Program expands access with online learning option.  PR Newswire
• Andy McFadyen named National Funeral Director of the Year.  Royston Crow (Great Britain)
• Inside Recompose, where the human composting startup is ready to grow its formula beyond Seattle.  Geek Wire
• Inaugural Kadish lecture looks at funerary practices in Roman Egypt.  Bing U News – State University of New York – Binghampton (NY)

 

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