It’s Been a Heck of a Year

There I said it, this year has been an absolute whirlwind. I think unprecedented would be a good word for 2016 all around. Let’s recap some of those head shakers we saw come to pass this year.

  • The year started off with a bang. Delivering us the worst opening 10 days to the S&P 500 in history. Lovely start.

  • Shortly after the bouncing off the bottom we saw the U.S. 10 yr. Treasury hit 1.36% a new historic low.

  • Crude Oil prices went below $30/barrel in January causing mass hysteria in the energy industry.

  • The VIX “fear index” was at an all-time high in February

  • We had a complete political outsider win the presidency after one of the most scandalous election seasons in history.

  • Britain voted to leave the EU.

  • China devalued its currency.

  • Domestic interest rates made their first meaningful move upwards since 2008 (Wait, didn’t you just say… yep).

  • Terrorists attacks were unnervingly common.

  • We mourned the loss of David Bowie, Glenn Frye, and Prince

  • The summer Olympics were in Rio. The U.S. did really good, the Russians doped.

  • Cleveland won a championship for the first time since 1964

  • The Cubs won the World Series after 107 years of trying.

  • The City of Champions added another Stanley Cup to the collection.

2016 was a lot to handle for anyone who participated.

It was no slow mover here either. We finished our database overhaul, finalized some internal structure changes, created a new website, rehabbed the building, and even had some new government regulations to tangle with. We also had over 55 meetings with fund company representatives, portfolio managers, and investment strategists to stay on top of our fund lineup and activity in the market.

Looking forward to 2017 we can’t help but be gripped by a feeling of hope. Old problems were overcome and new ones await, but this coming year doesn’t feel like we’ll be playing from behind anymore. The consensus market and economic outlooks are generally positive for what they’re worth and we’ve worked to improve and update our office systems so that we will be able to serve all of you continuously better and keep you prepared for what’s coming next in your financial lives.

We wish all of you the best in the year to come and hope that we can be a part of making 2017 a good year.