Welcome to Q2…it seems like yesterday we were making our new year resolutions and now we are 25% through 2007. From a market perspective, we have witnessed a shift from the downward sloping volatility over the previous 8 months and now find the index markets in a rather interesting position. Clearly the global indices are a crossroads in terms of velocity and direction. Was the February 27th decline a warning shot of what may lie ahead? Is the U.S. economy slowing to the point of a needed rate cut? Is the Sub-Prime fiasco about to play a much larger role in the domestic consumer? Will the U.S. dollar continue to drop against the rest of the world? If the FED is worried about inflation…when will it show up in our readings?
As you can deduce from my thinking…there are many scenarios facing the index market over the ensuing months. One aspect of the trade that appears to be a pretty good bet from where I sit is that volatility has put in a floor and will remain elevated (relative of course) to those lows seen earlier this year. Listed below are the global performances for the indices. Once again…the U.S. is a laggard.
Global Stock Market Recap
