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04 January 2012
Another rollercoaster ride for the year in the markets. Up, down, down, up and we basically ended where we started. Seems to be the theme not only for 2011 but for more than a decade in the markets. The problems in Europe continue to keep domestic markets moving sideways despite evidence the U.S. economy is showing some signs of improvement. International markets underperformed in 2011 and the dollar was up. The question is, will things get markedly better this year or will we continue to just plod along?
Here are some benchmark returns to help you guage how your portfolio performed versus the various markets.| Benchmark | 2011 total return | 2 year annualized total return | 3 year annualized total return | 5 year annualized total return | 10 year annualized total return |
| BarCap US Aggregate Bond |
7.84 | 7.19 | 6.77 | 6.50 | 5.78 |
| iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index | (18.89) | (3.02) | 17.31 | 1.68 | |
| SPDR S&P 500 | 1.98 | 8.24 | 13.97 | (0.30) | 2.84 |
| S&P SmallCap 600 |
1.02 | 12.96 | 17.01 | 1.94 | 7.09 |
| S&P MidCap 400 |
(1.73) | 11.56 | 19.57 | 3.32 | 7.04 |
| MSCI EAFE (International equity) |
(14.82) | (5.47) | 4.51 | (7.40) | 2.03 |
