The Capital Spectator

It's a strange, almost surreal environment. Depending on the analyst, the forecast if the fiscal cliff's tax hikes and spending cuts are allowed to kick in come January ranges from a minor blip to deep economic recession. There are also those who dismiss the danger entirely, arguing that it's a media-hyped event for the political class, with little or no real consequence for the economy or markets. Given the generally positive returns across the major asset classes, one might wonder if the crowd leans toward the latter view. December's market action, no doubt, will sort it all out. Meanwhile, here's how the horse race stacks up so far:

US STOCKS • Vanguard Total Market (VTI) • Benchmark: MSCI US Broad Market Index

FOREIGN DEVELOPED MARKET STOCKS • Vanguard Europe Pacific (VEA) • Benchmark: MSCI EAFE

EMERGING MARKET STOCKS • Vanguard Emerging Markets (VWO) • Benchmark: MSCI Emerging Market

US BONDS • Vanguard Total Bond Market (BND) • Benchmark: Barclays US Aggregate

INFLATION-INDEXED US TREASURIES • iShares Barclays TIPS Bond (TIP) • Benchmark: Barclays US TIPS

HIGH YIELD BONDS • SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond (JNK) • Benchmark: Barclays High Yield Very Liquid

COMMODITIES • iPath Dow Jones-UBS Commodity (DJP) • Benchmark: DJ-UBS Commodity

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS • Vanguard REIT (VNQ) • Benchmark: MSCI US REIT

FOREIGN DEVELOPED MARKET GOVERNMENT BONDS • SPDR Barclays Int’l Treasury (BWX) •
Benchmark: Barclays Global Treasury ex-US Capped

EMERGING MARKET GOVERNMENT BONDS • Van Eck Market Vectors Emg Mkt Local Currency Bond (EMLC) •
Benchmark: J.P. Morgan GBI-EMG Core

FOREIGN GOVERNMENT INFLATION-LINKED BONDS • SPDR DB International Inflation-Protected Bond (WIP) •
Benchmark: DB Global Government ex-US Inflation-Linked Bond Capped

FOREIGN CORPORATE BONDS • PowerShares International Corporate Bond (PICB) •
Benchmark: S&P International Corporate Bond

Charts courtesy of StockCharts.com