The first major economic release of the December economic profile suggests that momentum continues to bubble. The ISM’s factory index rose 1.2 percentage points to 53.9 last month, the highest since April and an acceleration from the pace of November’s gain. If the first reading on the windup to 2011 is any indication, the statistical case is a bit stronger today for expecting the economy to muddle forward, perhaps at a slightly faster clip, in the months ahead.
Daily Archives: January 3, 2012
Major Asset Classes | Dec 31, 2011 | Performance Update
It was a tough year in 2011 for minting risk premiums if you held a broadly diversified portfolio. Bonds and REITs were the big winners among the major asset classes last year. If you didn’t hold generous helpings in those corners, your results for the year just passed are probably modest at best. Stocks were mixed, if we can call it that, with U.S. equities generally rising by a lackluster 1% on the year on a total return basis, but it was ugly for overseas markets in dollar-based terms. Broad measures of commodities suffered too, although gold and oil each climbed around 10%.