Market Outlook
The upsurge in equity prices that started on March 10, 2009 has been among the most despised and distrusted bullmarkets of all time. For each of its seven years, newfound horror stories materialized to interrupt the bull trend with corrections roughly as large and as scary as the one which began this year. In 2009 the S&P 500, still reeling from the aftermath of the GFC, declined by 25% through March 9, 2009. In 2010, fear over the U.S. deficit set off a -15 % correction. In 2011, panic over a U.S. Treasury default sent the S&P down -19.5%. In 2012, the euro crisis caused two corrections, -10% in the spring and then -8% in the autumn. In 2013, the panic was about Federal Reserve tapering and a U.S. government shutdown, although these only hit the S&P by -6%. In 2014, carnage in the Middle East and Ukraine catalyzed an -8% setback. And last summer, policy blunders in China caused a correction of -12%. Importantly, each of these corrections turned out to be a buying opportunity.