Just a few weeks ago it seemed like the market could do no wrong. Now all of a sudden it seems like it can do no right and most, if not all, of this year’s gains are now gone. What’s changed? Frankly not that much and at the same time everything. On the not that much front the economy is still chugging along albeit at a slower pace than earlier in the year and corporate earnings are mostly good. At the same time the Fed has announced its intentions to raise interest rates and keep raising them for the time being which is new information that’s rattling the markets at the same time the geopolitical climate has become more challenging.

At Telemus we like to say we’re in the keep rich business not the get rich business. Long ago we learned that one of the keys to success in investing is to be prepared for any contingency because we can’t  predict the future or the direction of the stock market and interest rates. While stocks and bonds will always be a part of most of our client’s portfolios, we also include alternative investments as part of our allocation where appropriate to truly diversify them. Times like these , while unsettling, are normal occurrences even in years where the market produces strong returns. It’s not the time to panic. However times like these are also why we construct broadly diversified portfolios and rebalance them on a regular basis.