The 3rd quarter has quickly passed and soon enough, us Northern Californians will be able to bask in the heat of another few months of summer. It seems as if the market wants to hold on to its own pleasant weather as the equity markets continue their move in positive territory. This 3rd quarter saw an increase of 4.6% percent making the 2013 YTD increase at 18.50%. I think it’s time to take a look at the last 5 years S&P 500 market returns to really get a glimpse of how long this bull has ran. Amazingly, amidst news that seems rather negative, the markets have handled it quite well:
· 2008 -38.47%
· 2009 23.49%
· 2010 12.64%
· 2011 0.00%
· 2012 13.29%
· 2013 18.50% (YTD as of September 30th
As most of us, I am hearing chatter about the possible effects of the government shutdown on the markets. Though this is clearly “not good” when hundreds of thousands of workers are being furloughed. Since 1977, there have been 17 shutdowns. Most last no more than three days. Some last less than a day. The S&P 500 fell 3.7% during the 1995-96 government shutdown. Stocks quickly rebounded after the government got back to work, rising 10.5% the month after the shutdown ended. Trying to allocate an investment portfolio around government shutdowns would simply be a form of “timing the market”, of which Sustainvest doesn’t believe in. We feel as if our allocation models, dependent on each client’s risk profile, are set to absorb some of the downfalls that may occur.
TO READ MORE CLICK ON LINK ABOVE