Investment Management l Week in Review – March 15, 2013
March 19, 2013
First Western Trust’s investment management team offers their insight into the markets for the week ending March 15, 2013:
Bolstered by Fed policy, generally better-than-expected economic data, and the absence of negative European headlines, equity markets continued to move higher.
As the Dow Jones Industrial Average has continued to set record highs and the S&P 500 closes in on its record high set in October 2007, the chorus of voices predicting that a pull-back must be near continues to grow. Thus far, however, the markets have defied those critics and continue their steady advance. While some sort of near-term correction would certainly not be surprising, markets continue to be underpinned by the Fed’s commitment to loose monetary policy, reasonable equity valuations, and steadily improving economic data. That the sequester, thus far, has not produced the calamitous economic repercussions that many politicians and others were predicting, seems to have only further supported the markets.
