In the last market commentary, I mentioned the possibility of a few quarters of flattish to sub-par returns for the stock market. So here we are in the middle of the slow season (May to November) and the market is grinding sideways to down.

As we are 10 plus years into this bull market, this really should not be a surprise to any of us and is quite normal. On a positive note, the economy seems to be in good shape, corporate earnings are doing well and retail sales are up; which means as a whole people are spending. On a negative note, it seems almost daily Washington is making an announcement that effects stock prices, interest rates are heading up, and the market leadership is still limited to a small number of companies. Should this narrow channel, of a few large technology companies, spread out into other areas of the market? This change would then be viewed as an extremely positive development.

Looking forward into next quarter, I maintain a similar sentiment, which is somewhere between neutral and optimistic.

Please enjoy your summer and I look forward to updating you in the fall.