While the U.S. economy merits a degree of optimism, as the recovering housing sector has supported improvement in the labor market and consumer spending, we question the outlook for the balance of 2013. A key indicator in our research reveals that expectations are getting ahead of themselves. The Economic Surprise Index measures the difference between
The year began with a flourish in stocks, which soared more than 10% on a mix of fundamentals and optimism. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index set new records above levels they had last reached before the 2008 crisis. We view this advance somewhat skeptically, because the behavior of other asset
We are watching for a possible shift, although it is not yet evident, in the correlation between stocks and bonds, which measures how similarly or differently these asset classes perform. For the past 10 years, this correlation has been consistently negative — when stocks have struggled, bonds have done well, and vice versa (a correlation
As 2013 begins, we find that important changes are occurring in the correlation structure of markets that should shape investment strategy. The first important shift is a decline in the elevated correlations across all kinds of equities, which has been a hallmark of recent years. We measured elevated correlations across sectors, across country markets, and
As 2013 begins, we believe the most important question for investment strategy is whether the secular bear market for stocks has ended. Some evidence suggests it might have. Stock market returns in 2012 were very good, marking the fourth successive calendar year of gains in the United States. Three of the four years delivered double-digit