Gold, which had been in steady decline since its peak in mid-2011, popped close to 26% for the first six months of this year, as measured by the SPDR Gold Shares exchange traded fund.They are now hovering around $47, a more than 25% increase year to date. Oil prices, which were ravaged last year, also staged a big recovery after initially diving below $27 in January (as measured by the West Texas Intermediate spot price).The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets exchange traded fund (a broad measure of emerging markets) was up 6.7%. But even so called riskier asset classes like emerging markets fared well in dollar terms thanks in part to a rebound in their currencies as well as the prices for some of the commodities they produce.These include high dividend paying utilities, telecommunications companies like AT&T and consumer staples like Wal-Mart, which rose 25.6% and 19.2%, respectively, before dividends. Performance of stocks was driven by industry sectors that are perceived to be defensive, or should hold up better in a tough market environment.After a weak start to 2016, where the first 10 days of January were the worst in the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s history-going back to 1897–the index actually finished the second quarter up 2.9% for the year. Let’s take stock of what transpired in the first half of this year.
Our goal, as always, is to help you achieve your investment objectives while paying very close attention to risk management. This includes, for the most part, paring back our allocation to equities and adding to other asset classes including, for example, fixed income and gold. As such, we have generally been taking a cautious stance toward our exposure to global equities, and deploying strategies that should help to offset volatility. From our vantage point, we expect the volatility to continue. Our recurring theme, which you’re quite familiar with by now if you’ve been keeping up with our communications, is volatility. The financial markets, on the other hand, have been anything but. Indeed, it’s been remarkably “summery,” here, characterized by a steady stretch of warm, sunny and calm days. Come with me and see the world how I see it.The July 4th weekend marks the official start of summer here in Maine, but the weather during the weeks leading up to the holiday had been fantastic. I’ll leave that important role to others. My aim is to inspire hope and wonder, not to bring you down with the shortcomings of our social and political lives. Through me you will see a world idealized and distilled into mostly simple scenes. Natural wonders stand beside man-made landmarks to captivate my imagination and inspire me to capture them. Lighthouses hold a special attraction, along with boats, harbors, and historic architecture.įrom the artist, ‘I love the idea of discovering the ‘roots’ of a place. He primarily works around his home in Brunswick, focusing on the coastal character of neighboring Harpswell and communities and landmarks up and down the coast. As you can see from his galleries, Ben prefers to do his work when most people stay away, during the off-season of winter along the coast and during inclement weather.īenjamin Williamson’s images have been featured on a US postage stamp, in galleries, magazines, books, calendars, and more. A lifelong love of history and the weather have combined in images that feature classic Maine and New England scenery in beautiful light and unusual conditions. Instead of seeking places devoid of human presence, Ben likes to showcase our relationship to the environment through images that include man-made objects. Brunswick, Maine photographer Benjamin Williamson isn’t your traditional landscape photographer.
0 kommentar(er)
