Human beings love to imagine connections between events where none really exist. For financial journalists, this is a virtual job requirement. For investors, it can be a disaster.

You may have  read about a security breech to some SSL encrypted websites. The potential security threat is called Heartbleed (CVE-2014-0160).  

Client.CardiffPark.com is on a windows platform that makes use of a Trust Wave SSL Certificate.

Despite choppy global stock markets the S&P 500 Index headed back to record levels at the end of March returning 0.85% for the month. Outside the U.S., the MSCI European stock market Index fell 1.02%, the MSCI Japanese stock market Index lost 1.15%, while the MSCI Emerging stock market Index gained 3.07%. YTD, the European Index returned 2.1%, the U.S. Index returned 1.81%, the Japanese Index lost 5.47% and the Emerging Market Index declined 0.43%.

What the market took away in the last two weeks of January it gave back in February. Despite latest economic reports expecting weak future growth the S&P 500 returned 4.57% in February negating January’s 3.46% decline. In foreign stock markets, the overall tone was positive. The MSCI EAFE index returned 5.56%.The MSCI Emerging Market index returned 3.19%.

Global stock markets ended January with sharp losses. On January 15, the S&P 500 stock index posted a new all-time high. However, concerns about the global economy and U.S. company earnings coupled with turmoil in emerging markets drove the S&P 500 index down 3.5%; this was its worst monthly performance in the past two years. The European and Japanese stock markets each fell 3.9%. The Emerging markets fell 6.6%. Although emerging markets may continue their downward momentum in the short run, they remain an important component in a properly diversified portfolio. In the long run, emerging markets are likely to grow faster than developed markets.

The amazing performance of US stocks in 2013 was a welcome surprise for investors who are following a simple buy-and-hold strategy and a source of exasperation for many professionals caught flatfooted by the steady rise in share prices.

As Thanksgiving came and went, Wall Street put taper concerns aside. The S&P 500 climbed another 2.8% bringing YTD total returns on the index to 29.12%, the best performance since 1997.

With debt default averted for now and the government reopened, the S&P 500 continued its winning ways in October. The broad market index rose 4.46% for the month, bringing YTD returns to 25.3%. S&P Mid Cap stocks gained 3.64%, finishing up 26.34% YTD.  S&P Small Cap stocks rose 3.54%, driving their YTD returns to 32.04%.

Since the early days of security analysis, research has emphasized the potential benefit of buying stocks at a price that is reasonable to the fundamentals. The oldest benchmark for valuation is the dividend yield. Stocks that trade at a high dividend yield are often referred to as value stocks. Stocks that trade at a low dividend yield are often referred to as growth stocks. Value and growth investing have given rise to dramatically different records of long-term performance. A large body of evidence suggests that there has been a higher long term-term return both domestically and internationally from investing in value stocks.

Professor Fama was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his groundbreaking work on asset pricing and markets. His research inspired the rising popularity for index tracking funds and provides the intellectual foundation for investment strategy at Cardiff Park Advisors.