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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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%.
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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.
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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%.
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2016 Third Quarter Review of Markets
September 14, 2019
Despite ending the second quarter with a “yes” vote on the referendum for Great Britain to exit the European Union (“Brexit”), both U.S. and non-U.S. equities rallied sharply during the first month of the third quarter with the stocks of smaller companies significantly outperforming larger companies.
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2016 Second Quarter Review of Markets
September 13, 2019
After a tumultuous start to the year, most of the second quarter was quite calm within global markets. Great Britain’s referendum in late June to exit the European Union (known as “Brexit”) was unexpected and brought about significant volatility, sending the S&P 500 down 5% and non-U.S. stocks down 8%.
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