Insights

January 24, 2023
  Index 4th Qtr Return YTD Return S&P 500 7.56% -18.11% MSCI ACWI Ex USA IMI 14.15% -16.58% Bloomberg Bond Index 1.87% -13.01% Consumer Price Index 0.46% 6.42% Market Commentary While 2022 lacked some of the drama that pervaded 2020, results were significantly worse across nearly every asset class over the course of the full calendar year. The final quarter of 2022 started off poorly...
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Investment Commentary The third quarter was another difficult one for both stocks and bonds. The S&P 500 declined 4.9%. International stocks fell as the value of the U.S. dollar rose over the quarter. Foreign stocks, as defined by MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI, declined 9.7%, inclusive of emerging markets, which declined 11.6%. The majority of the losses in foreign stocks for U.S.-based investors throughout the...
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Market Commentary The second quarter of 2022 held more challenges for nearly every asset class amid high inflation and historically low consumer sentiment. U.S. stocks finished the quarter down 16.1% with smaller companies underperforming larger ones. International stocks held up better, however they still declined 14.3%. Emerging market stocks underperformed their developed market counterparts. Inflation continues to run significantly above long-run averages. The May Consumer...
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May 2, 2022
Market Commentary The first quarter of 2022 started out on rocky footing for financial markets. After declines in both global stocks and bonds for the month of January, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February exacerbated market concerns and led to further declines in equity prices for much of the rest of the quarter, before a 10%+ rebound during the second half of March. When all...
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February 2, 2022
Market Commentary While many investors were excited to put 2020 behind them, 2021 certainly presented its own set of challenges. Despite these challenges, 2021 produced strong results in most equity markets. The S&P 500 returned 28.7% for calendar year 2021 after posting gains of 11% during the fourth quarter. The stocks of smaller companies generally did not fare as well, but were positive by 2.1%....
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December 3, 2021
Large company stocks in the U.S. were barely positive for the third quarter, with the S&P 500 increasing 0.6%. Smaller stocks trailed their larger counterparts as the Russell 2000 declined 4.4% over that time. Non-U.S. stocks declined 2.6%. Emerging markets lagged substantially, declining 8.1% during the quarter. As with other indices, much of the drop in emerging markets was concentrated in September, which, among other things, saw concerns over a default by Chinese real estate developer Evergrande. Evergrande is among the largest Chinese real estate developers.
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September 10, 2021
The S&P 500 returned 8.6% for the quarter. Smaller stocks, as measured by the Russell 2000, returned 4.3%, although they remain ahead of the S&P 500 for the year. International stocks lagged their U.S. counterparts, but were still up over 5% during the quarter. All in all, the first half of 2021 would have made for a great full year in the equity markets. The bond market had positive performance for the quarter, though it is still down for the year after a poor first quarter.
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September 8, 2021
The S&P 500 returned 6.2% for the first quarter of 2021. In a continuation from the fourth quarter of 2020, smaller capitalization stocks in the U.S. did significantly better with the Russell 2000 returning 12.7% over the same period. International stocks also fared well with the MSCI ACWI Ex USA index up 3.8%. After a strong start compared to developed markets, emerging market stocks started to pull back midway through the quarter as higher interest rates in the U.S. negatively impacted prospects for emerging economies.
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January 29, 2021
What a ride. After the fastest bear market in history, the S&P 500 finished 2020 up by 18.4%. Smaller capitalization stocks, as measured by the Russell 2000, outperformed larger stocks and returned 20% for the year. Small cap stocks had meaningfully underperformed on a year-to-date basis entering the 4th quarter but saw exceptionally strong performance in Q4 returning over 31% over the final 3 months of the year relative to just 12.1% for the S&P 500.
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October 20, 2020
In an abrupt shift from the previous quarter, the S&P 500 increased 20.5%, its eighth best quarter since 1928. Fiscal and monetary policy in the U.S. and globally, in conjunction with measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, provided a backstop to the decline in markets and sent risky assets higher. International stocks also did well. The MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI returned 17%, with emerging market stocks slightly outperforming developed market stocks.
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