To journey through the fourth quarter of 2012 without knowing the score, one might have reasonably thought that markets were losing ground. After all, the polarizing emotion of our national elections followed by Washington’s clumsy grappling with the “fiscal cliff” surely couldn’t have gone unnoticed. Well, that’s what we all get for thinking; or at least for choosing to fixate on the… Read More

More than forty months into a bull market run, it turns out that most investors still aren’t grasping the magnitude of the global market recovery. For example, when a recent industry survey asked 1,000 investors whether they thought the S&P 500 was up or down during each of the past three years, 66% thought it was down in 2009, 48% thought… Read More

The record-setting heat wave that recently took hold over large swaths of the United States has left millions of Americans feeling a little worn out and lethargic. During the second quarter of 2012, despite periodic episodes of both up and down volatility, global markets can be described in an overall similar fashion. Over the last few months, clouds of uncertainty trapped and… Read More

While our role as your trusted advisor calls for delivery of an “expert” opinion, we’ve used this venue in the past to highlight the fallacy of near-term market prognostication. Entering 2012, many prominent industry professionals and investors alike had settled on a “muddle through” scenario, in which a multitude of macro concerns were being weighed against a backdrop of fairly attractive valuations…. Read More

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Opening line, Charles Dickens 1859 novel Tale of Two Cities. Investors can’t be blamed if they felt the same way about financial markets in 2011. Indeed, even seasoned industry professionals have grown frustrated with the recent experience, which includes a heavy dose of uncertainty and sparse gains. Thankfully, in reviewing the statements that follow, you’ll… Read More