Total Returns % 1 Week YTD Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.72% +2.54% NASDAQ Composite -2.39% +1.38% S&P 500 Index -0.76% +2.04% Russell 2000 -4.26% -1.34% U.S. Aggregate Bond Index -0.11% -0.13% MSCI All Country World -0.90% +1.13% Source: Yahoo! Finance. Data through 1-21-11 Global markets softened up a bit this week on news of further inflation concerns in China. In addition to the news out of China, while quite a few US companies reported [...]
Total Returns % 1 Week YTD Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.96% +1.81% NASDAQ Composite +1.93% +3.86% S&P 500 Index +1.71% +2.83% Russell 2000 +2.51% +3.05% U.S. Aggregate Bond Index +0.21% -0.02% MSCI All Country World +2.42% +2.05% Source: Morningstar, Inc. Data through 1-14-11 Global markets enjoyed a nice rise this week. The market drivers for the week were easing tensions (for now) in Europe, global shortfalls in soft commodities, and positive earnings reports from Intel [...]
Since the second round of quantitative easing (QE 2) was announced by the Fed, US bonds as a whole (whether corporate or government) have been under pressure. It appears that the market is finally tuning into a few facts. The facts being that inflation is already here, rates are going to have to rise, and bonds hold more risk than usual. Typically, bonds are held in a portfolio to limit risk and volatility in a portfolio. In the [...]