As of November 13, 2009
 
n U.S. stocks posted a second consecutive strong week, and indexes hover at levels not seen since October 2008. European stocks also extended their winning streak to two weeks, as G-20 leadership agreed to maintain stimulus efforts and corporate earnings continued to surprise on the upside. Asia was mixed, but emerging market stocks turned in their biggest weekly gain in a month on strong economic data out of China, Brazil and South Korea.
 
n The U.S. federal deficit for the 2009 budget year, which ended September 30, was $1.42 trillion, an all-time high in dollar terms and the highest level since 1945 as a percentage of GDP. The trade deficit also continued to expand in September, coming in more than 18% higher than the August result, primarily due to higher energy and auto imports.
 
n Preliminary U.S. consumer sentiment data for November declined unexpectedly, reflecting near-term pressures on household incomes that are unlikely to abate until employment begins to revive next year.
 
n The euro zone posted a positive quarterly GDP number for the first time in a year and a half. However, third quarter growth was below expectations due to a surprisingly weak French economy. Of the 27 nations that comprise the European Union, only Greece, Spain and Cyprus remain in a recession. 
 
n China reported improving export data on a month-over-month basis for October. The country exports about $110 billion of goods a month, on par with its output in late 2007. Taiwan and South Korea also reported better trade figures for the month.
 
n The U.S. dollar fell to 15-month lows, prompting foreign governments to purchase dollars in an effort to hold down the value of their own currencies. Treasury Secretary Geithner reiterated the Obama administration’s commitment to a strong dollar.
 
n Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were acquitted of securities fraud in the first major criminal trial to result from the financial crisis. The managers still face a civil-fraud lawsuit brought by the SEC..
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
Source: FactSet, Bloomberg
 
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Index Definitions
 
Barclays Capital Global Aggregate Bond Index measures a wide range of global government, government-related, corporate and securitized fixed-income investments, all with maturities greater than one year.
 
Barclays Capital High-Yield Bond Index tracks the performance of below investment grade U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market.
 
Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Index is a bond market index composed of US securities in Treasury, Government-Related, Corporate, and Securitized sectors that are of investment-grade quality or better, have at least one year to maturity, and have an outstanding par value of at least $250 million.
 
Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted average computed from the stock prices of 30 of the largest and most widely held public companies in the United States, adjusted to reflect stock splits and stock dividends.
 
FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index represents general performance trends of the equity securities of real estate companies involved in the ownership, disposition and development of income-producing properties worldwide.
 
JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus (EMBI+) tracks total returns for traded foreign currency denominated debt instruments in the emerging markets which meet minimum criteria for face value outstanding and market trading liquidity.
 
MSCI EAFE Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure developed markets’ equity performance, excluding the US & Canada, for 21 countries.
 
MSCI Europe ex-U.K. Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure equity performance of the 15 developed European markets except the United Kingdom.
 
MSCI U.K. Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure equity performance of listed common stocks in the United Kingdom.
 
MSCI Asia ex-Japan Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure equity performance of the 15 developed Asian markets except Japan.
 
MSCI Japan Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure equity performance of listed common stocks in Japan.
 
MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that measures emerging market equity performance of 22 countries.
 
Municipal Bond Index is a bond index that includes investment-grade, tax-exempt fixed-rate bonds with long-term maturities (greater than two years) selected from issues larger than $50 million.
 
NASDAQ Composite Index is a market capitalization weighted index of the performance of domestic and international common stocks listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market including over 2,800 securities.
 
Russell 1000 Growth Index measures the large-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity market including Russell 1000 companies with higher price-to-book ratios and forecasted growth.
 
Russell 1000 Value Index measures the large-cap value segment of the U.S. equity market including Russell 1000 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower expected growth.
 
Russell Midcap Growth Index measures the performance of the mid-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity market including Russell Midcap Index companies with higher price-to-book ratios and forecasted growth.
 
Russell Midcap Value Index measures the performance of the mid-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity market including Russell Midcap Index companies with lower price-to-book ratios and forecasted growth.
 
Russell 2000 Growth Index measures the performance of small-cap growth stocks in the U.S. equity market including Russell 2000 companies with higher price-to-value ratios and forecasted growth.
 
Russell 2000 Value Index measures the performance of small-cap growth stocks in the U.S. equity market including Russell 2000 companies with lower price-to-value ratios and forecasted growth.
 
S&P 500 Index is a widely regarded as the best single gauge of the U.S. equities market, including 500 leading companies in major industries of the U.S. economy.
 
S&P 500 Sectors are defined as the GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) sectors which provide standardized industry definitions consisting of 10 sectors, 24 industry groups, and 68 industries.
 
 
 
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