Prices of domestic and foreign stocks, bonds and other investments fell sharply towards the end of the 2nd quarter. Still, the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index posted positive results, returning 2.91% for the quarter and 13.82% for the first half. All major US asset classes, with the exception of REITs, maintained positive performance in the quarter, with the broad market returning 2.69%. Asset class returns ranged from 3.74% for small growth stocks to 2.06% for large growth stocks.

Fixed-income funds are where investors traditionally look for safety and low volatility. Yet, the months of May and June were challenging for many fixed income investors, especially for those who have been reaching for higher yields. For example, mutual funds that invest in long-term U.S. Treasury bonds lost on average 6.25% in May and 3.25% in June. And funds that borrow to increase returns or that invest in higher yielding sectors such as privately issued mortgage backed securities and emerging market debt securities got hit even harder during a rough patch for bonds overall.

The S&P 500 Index returned 2.34% in May, its seventh straight month of gains. Year-to-date, the index has returned 15.37%, its best five-month start to a year since 1997. The market’s advance this year has come largely on supportive monetary policies from central banks around the world.

"What stocks to buy now?" When prompted with this question, Gregory Mankiw, Professor of Economics at Harvard, told his mom, "Don’t ask me!”

Despite worries that federal spending cuts and higher taxes would lead to an economic slump, the S&P 500 finished the month up 1.81%, at a new all-time closing high, bringing YTD total returns for the index to 12.74%. U.S. asset class returns ranged from 2.12% for large growth stocks to negative 0.66% for small cap growth stocks. Across the size spectrum, large caps outperformed small caps. Across the style spectrum, large cap growth did better than large cap value; however, small cap value outperformed small cap growth.

The first quarter ended on a happy note, as all major US asset classes posted positive results, with the broad market returning 11.07%. Asset class returns ranged from 9.54% for large growth stocks to 13.21% for small growth stocks. Across the size spectrum, small caps out-performed large caps. There was a positive value premium market-wide in the US, driven by the performance of large value and midcap value stocks; however, small cap value stocks underperformed small cap growth stocks.

After a strong January with returns of more than 5 percent, the S&P 500 struggled to gain in February. Despite a sharp, but brief setback, the index rose for the fourth consecutive month in a row, returning 1.36 percent, and finishing just short of its record close of 1,565, a level that was reached briefly in 2007. Investors were encouraged after Ben Bernanke stood behind the central bank’s low interest rate policy and after a positive revision to fourth-quarter gross domestic product from an earlier estimate showing contraction.

Theoretical and empirical work in finance over the past 50 years has led to an evolution in our understanding of how financial markets work. For instance, 40 years ago, building on the work of Harry Markowitz on portfolio selection and the efficient diversification of investments, William Sharpe and others initially thought there was only one dimension of expected returns in equity markets—the market itself.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index returned 5.2% in January. The last time U.S. stocks had a better start was in 1997, when the S&P 500 climbed 6.1% and finished the year with a 31% gain. The MSCI All-Country World Index of shares in 45 nations returned 4.6%, including dividends.

Facts: Indexes have no costs, but funds do. Most funds underperform their benchmark (BM) at a minimum by ther expense ratio and some additional amount related to turnover.