In many ways, 2021 was a typical year for markets, but it also reinforced some basic market lessons that are hard to learn, even if they are not new. As we launch into the New Year, we’re highlighting three 2021 market lessons that we think may matter for 2022: 1) equity valuations are a poor timing mechanism, 2) structural forces have a large influence on interest rates and may keep them relatively low, and 3) politics and markets don’t mix.

Welcome to the New Year for markets, when year-to-date returns all reset to 0% and the year ahead is still a blank slate. No doubt, 2022 will provide its usual mix of ordinary ma

Index Performance

U.S. and International Equities

Major Markets in the Green

The major equity markets finished the week higher, as the Santa Claus rally continued to take hold even amid concerns about the Omicron variant’s effects on the economy. Nevertheless, the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) hawkish stance on inflation continues to weigh on investor’s minds. Real estate enjoyed a strong week as well as an excellent 2021, as investors saw opportunity in the sector given its income producing properties and potential to act as an inflation hedge.

International markets also c

Here it is, our final blog of 2021, and what better topic than the blog itself and the readers who make writing it so rewarding.

Our aim with the blog is simple: every day provide market analysis that is timely, understandable, actionable, and occasionally fun. While we have a good time with the blog, we take its underlying purpose very seriously.

For our last blog of the year, we look at our 10 most read blogs of 2021. The blogs are listed below, sorted from the most read to the 10th most read. For each we include the publication date, a central quote, and what, in hindsight, actually happened.

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The municipal market has been a relative bright spot for core fixed income investors in 2021. While most of the other “safe” parts of the core fixed income universe have generated negative returns this year, the national muni market is up for the year (through December 22). With state and local governments flush with cash due to better-than-expected tax receipts along with generous amounts of federal aid, many municipalities are in good shape. The fundamental picture for many state and local entities improved rather significantly during 2021. Coming out of the COVID-19 economic shutdowns, many states and local governments were con