What does a century of economic cycles teach investors about investing? 

Investment opportunities exist all around the globe, but the randomness of global stock returns makes it exceedingly difficult to figure out which markets are likely to be outperformers. How should investors deal with this kind of uncertainty? 

It was an up-and-down year for markets—in the end, one with more down than up. The world gave financial markets a lot to process. 

Technology enables immediate access to everything wherever and whenever we want it. 

This has been a challenging year for investors. On top of the equity bear market, the steep losses in bonds1 have been especially surprising, leading some investors to question whether the classic 60/40 portfolio is dead. 

Many investors have likely heard the adage that active management performs better in times of market turbulence. 

 

When I was growing up, our local newspaper, the Kansas City Star, was full of news and had one page for opinion. After decades of cable news and nonstop digital postings, I see more opinions these days than news. 

Investors can focus on the daily rain clouds and sunshine the markets bring. Or they can think about the long term.