2019 First Quarter Review of the Markets
September 23, 2019
After a difficult 2018, a year in which nothing really worked from an investment perspective, 2019 has started off as a year in which everything has worked. Stocks rebounded off of their December lows during the first quarter of 2019. The S&P 500 returned 13.65%. This represents the largest quarterly gain since 2009.
Read more »

2018 Fourth Quarter Review of the Markets
September 22, 2019
The fourth quarter of 2018 was negative for global stocks. In the U.S., the S&P 500 sank 13.5% for the quarter, erasing the year’s gains. Growth oriented stocks generally fell harder than more value-oriented names; however, both were down over 10%. Smaller companies in the U.S. did particularly poorly. The Russell 2000 declined 20.2% and ended the year down 11%.
Read more »

2018 Second Quarter Review of the Markets
September 20, 2019
The second quarter of 2018 saw mixed returns across asset classes. The S&P 500 returned 3.4%. Within the US equity market, small companies outperformed larger companies with the Russell 2000 returning 7.7% for the quarter. Looking abroad, developed market stocks increased by 3.5% in their local currencies.
Read more »

2018 First Quarter Review of the Markets
September 19, 2019
Volatility is back. The first quarter of 2018 reminded investors that markets do not always go up, and that high valuations can make markets more sensitive to bad news. January returns were strong, picking up right where 2017 left off.
Read more »

2017 Fourth Quarter Review of the Markets

2017 was another stellar year for stocks as prices around the world increased. The media seemed to constantly report record highs domestically with the S&P 500 index increasing 21.8% for the year. Internationally, stocks also performed well, gaining 27.2%. Ultimately, 2017 will go down as a year of strong returns and exceptionally low volatility.
Read more »

2017 Third Quarter Review of the Markets
September 18, 2019
The third quarter of 2017 continued to be positive for financial markets with the S&P 500 returning 4.5% for the quarter. Small cap stocks outperformed larger companies for the first time this year, but only after a loss of over 6% from the highs. The impressive recovery was stoked by optimism over corporate tax reform in the United States.
Read more »

2017 Second Quarter Review of the Markets
September 17, 2019
Stock and bond indices increased further during the second quarter of 2017. Non-U.S. stocks continued to outperform U.S. stocks. The MSCI ACWI Ex USA, a broad based international index, returned 5.8% for the quarter. Domestic stocks also showed positive performance as the S&P 500 increased 3.1%.
Read more »

2017 First Quarter Review of the Markets
September 16, 2019
President Trump’s first two months in office dominated the news flow in the first quarter. The S&P 500 returned 6.1% for the quarter as both earnings estimates and valuations increased. As we cautioned in our last review, small cap stocks are quite expensive by historic standards and performed poorly relative to larger companies returning only 2.5% over the same period.
Read more »

2016 Fourth Quarter Review of the Markets
September 15, 2019
2016 ended with a level of optimism that stands in stark contrast to the pessimism that marked the beginning of the year. A rocky first six weeks of 2016 saw nearly a 10% decline in the S&P 500 which was followed by a 23% rally. The index returned 3.8% this quarter to end the year up 12%.
Read more »