The market has enjoyed a relatively low volatility uptrend since the beginning of the year.  Below is a chart since the beginning of the year showing the S&P500 in green and a Preferred Stock fund, PPSIX, in red.  As you can see, they both achieve essentially the same result, but the red line has much lower day to day volatility.

WOW…What a difference a day makes.  Tuesday was just another day in La La Land.  Everyone talking about the latest tweet, the French election, would the Fed raise rates or not and why was volatility so low.  Then, late Tuesday, news broke that there was a memo that James Comey wrote regarding a meeting with President Trump.

It has been quite a while since I wrote a market update.  I haven’t exactly been sitting around doing nothing but it is long overdue.  A good bit of time lately has been assisting with care for Dad, who is doing fine. Then throw in a couple of quick trips to Argentina and Barcelona, and in my spare time I moved the office to a new location.  Don’t get me wrong, everyday

Last week, the citizens of the United Kingdom voted to exit the European Union (EU).  While it had been hotly debated in the weeks prior to the vote, it was generally thought that the vote would be to remain a part of the EU.  The markets were caught a bit off guard when the vote to exit prevailed.

To say that this is has been an ugly start for the markets would be an understatement.  It is officially the worst start  in history for the US markets and this comes after a lackluster year in 2015 that was marked by volatility and uncertainty.