Dimensional’s Quarterly Market Review (Q4 2016 & TY 2016)

Two Market Reviews – One Perspective

What’s better than one market review? How about two, to compare and contrast? Hot off the press from Dimensional Fund Advisors, we offer a close-up of the fourth quarter just ended, as well as a slightly broader view of 2016’s annual market performance.

Whichever review you choose to view, the most important point for both is that neither helps you position your portfolio for the future. For example, even though the U.S. bond market just delivered its worst quarterly performance in quite a while, that does not cry out for bailing on bonds. Conversely, even though U.S. small-cap value stocks roared back with a vengeance in 2016, delivering eye-popping 32 percent annual returns, this is not a clear signal that it’s time to go big on small-cap value.

What the numbers do tell us, yet again, is that you never can tell. What may seem like a sure bet today can just as quickly turn and trick you in near-term hindsight. The best course in such an uncertain course is to chart your own course in advance, based on decades of durable evidence rather than snapshots of passing news. Let us know if we can lend you a helping hand with that.

Quarterly Market Review (Q4 2016)

Annual Market Review (TY 2016)

SAGE Serendipity: As we review the ups and downs of the stock and bond markets we see they often reflect what has happened in the U.S. and the rest of world. Here’s a visual journey from the New York Times Year in Pictures 2016.  It was not a humdrum year by any means — the Cubs, Cuba, Olympics, Syria, the Presidential primaries and election, Zika, Prince, Putin, Brexit…?