Originally Published on January 13, 2016 The past 12 months have been a volatile sequence that has amounted to running in place. The fourth quarter was positive with a move that gained back most of the summer losses. The S&P 500 is closing out 2015 with a total return of 1.4%. For complete market coverage see http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/overview/overview.asp For more interesting perspective on the market in 2015 see http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-th

Originally Published on October 3, 2015 The market is in correction mode. We have just experienced the worst 90 days since 2011. The S&P 500 index was down 6.9% for the quarter ended September 30, 2015. The Wall Street Journal notes “daily swings grew bigger as investors fretted over China…while a commodities selloff and rising junk-bond yields added to the anxiety.” The market is struggling with the challenges of ultra-low interest rates and the likely increase in the cost o

Originally Published on July 8, 2015 The Market moved very little in Q2 2015. For update see http://www.bloomberg.com/markets These “uncertain times”. This expression is utilized constantly to express the complexity of our world and the opaque and unknowable future. It is interesting to stop and think about what times were more certain. Looking back at different historical events that were daunting, it is quite deceptive in hindsight to think that outcomes were foreseeable o

Originally Published on April 5, 2015 Q1 2015 was a volatile quarter that ended nearly flat. The S&P 500 did book a .4% advance, but overall in the US, markets seem to be having difficulty moving higher. We are seeing some gains outside the United States in Germany, and even Japan has been moving up. See complete coverage at http://www.bloomberg.com/markets. Watching the markets gyrate, I can always reassure myself that portfolio values will likely be higher at some point in