Another quarter is over.

Half the year is complete--markets continue to perform extremely well. Over the past twelve months, the S&P is up about 20%. Forward looking indicators of economic growth still look good. Inflation in the mid 2% is certainly not the end of the world but the trend is clearly higher which is the one factor quite worrisome to the Fed. Bernanke and Co. opted to keep rates unchanged this week--a move that makes perfect sense.
The markets have been very volatile lately--as evidenced by an increasing VIX. Markets can consolidate by going up and down for a period of time. Is this the pause that refreshes? or a short term top? International markets continue to turn in blockbuster returns. Keep a keen eye on those holdings--feels like a bubble could be brewing--particularly China where the retail brokerages resemble Off-Track-Betting establishments and everyone's grandmother views the market as a get rich quick vehicle. In comparison, domestic markets look cheap.
The mid-cap sector continues to steal the show with year-to-date performance in excess of 10%...the growth style in this sector is up about 13%. Small caps are up about 8% while large caps lag behind with about 6.5%. Interest rates are higher--the yield on the 10 year note is about 5.05% up from a low of about 4.6%--the bond market is still perturbed by players' exposure to syndicated sub prime loans. Bonds could also be signalling higher economic growth rates.
Thanks for reading.

CFP Board announces new fiduciary standard

The CFP Board of Standards has revised its Code of Ethics. Now, all holders of the CFP(R) designation must act as a fiduciary in dealing with clients. This means that financial planners must put the best interests of clients first. "The revised standards require a CFP® professional to “at all times place the interest of the client ahead of his or her own.” The new language replaces the lower standard of “reasonable and prudent professional judgment” contained in CFP Board’s current Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility". (excerpt from the CFP Board website). I have always held myself to this standard but I am happy to see that the investing public has gained an edge in dealing with financial advisors. This is an important accomplishment. To read more, go to http://www.cfpboard.org/media/release.asp?id=161.

On the markets, well not much to say. The fact that the DOW and the S&P keep setting new record highs is really not that big a deal to me--it's been seven years in the making! Actually compared to other segments of the overall market, like the international sector, the DOW and the S&P have lagged considerably and are probably undervalued. I noticed there is less talk of the Fed easing rates in the future, which seemed implausible to me, but certainly not to people like Bill Gross, portfolio manager of the largest bond fund in the world. I guess when you have a vested interest in lower interest rates, it tends to cloud your objectivity. This realization that rates are not going lower any time soon has not affected the stock market, not yet anyway--certainly has affected long term yields which have been rising of late.
May return numbers will be out soon--will write another post to see how the various market segments did this month. Thanks for reading.