September Review-September wrapped up a thoroughly forgettable quarter as the Standard and Poor’s 500 lost 7.0%, including dividends, for the month and 13.9% for the quarter. Foreign markets fared even worse as the MSCI EAFE index lost 9.5% during the month in dollar terms and 19.0% for the quarter. As a result, panicked investors withdrew more than $87 billion from U.S. mutual funds, the most outflows since the depths of 2008. According to Ned Davis…

August Review- August was a very busy month for news and an exceptionally turbulent month for markets world-wide. The month began with a debt ceiling deal hammered out after much contention and finally agreed to on July 31st, just days before the August 2nd debt ceiling deadline. However, the deal resulted in a commitment to cut spending by only $2.1 trillion over the next decade and left the tricky issues of entitlement and tax reform off the…

Greek Bailout- Last week euro-zone leaders agreed on a second rescue package for Greece that provides the country with much needed cash while placing some of the bailout’s burden on Greece’s private creditors. Through extensions of debt maturities and reductions in interest rates, the plan seeks to reduce the debt servicing burden of the country and allow it more time to work its way out of the hole it dug for itself. The EU will take…

The Debt Ceiling and Budget- Last week both Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s threatened to lower the credit rating on U.S. debt if meaningful progress isn’t made on the budget and debt ceiling issues. Moody’s cited “the rising possibility that the statutory debt limit will not be raised on a timely basis, leading to a default on U.S. Treasury obligations.” Without getting on too big of a soap box, let me point out that since World…