US stocks are 23.8% higher than last year's low October 3, and 92.6% above the March 9, 2009 low. The Dow Jones Industrial averages and S&P 500 are at levels last seen May 2008, before the financial crisis began in earnest.
Read MoreVolatility returned to the US stock market in November. In the first week of the months, stocks surged 3.6% on the back of the first decent jobs report since May.
Read MoreUS stocks gained 8.9% in September (best September result in 71 years) and 11.3% for the quarter (5th best quarter of the last 10 years.) As stocks rise, our clients are actually becoming more fearful. "How," they ask, "are stocks still rising when the economic news is so bad!
Read MoreUS stocks approached the March 16th levels that marked the YTD low, and also the start of year values. Given that stocks peaked 6 weeks earlier with a YTD rise of 9.0%, our clients have called wondering if this slide marked the start of another financial meltdown.
Read MoreFor 2009, the S&P 500 gained 26.5%, the Dow Industrials gained 22.7%, the NASDAQ gained a phenomenal 45.4% and Barclays Aggregate Bond index gained 6.1%.
Read MoreThe modest 5.5% gain in the S&P 500 for the year disguised the slaughter in financial services (down 18.5%) and consumer discretionary (down 13.2% - primarily home builders and cars, but also retail).
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