Our latest client update contains the June 30, 2009 edition of our Periodic Table of Asset Classes. Click Here for Link. As the table shows, most asset classes had positive returns in the first half of 2009, and some of last year’s big losers have so far been this year’s big winners. Back in March of this year, when the S&P 500 reached a level of 667, how many of us expected to see it back up to 919 by the end of June? How many of us expected the second quarter of 2009 to be the third-best quarter of the past 40 years for global stocks?  

The second quarter demonstrated once again how difficult it is to predict the future direction of capital markets, and this is precisely why we continue to use a passive and diversified approach to investing. We hope you are enjoying the summer, and as always, please feel free to contact us with any questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics.