Keidan Financial Consultants, LLC

Fear and uncertainty surrounding the subprime-driven lending crisis sparked continued market volatility in August.  Stocks began the month by rebounding from the sharp sell-off that marked the second half of July, before experiencing another round of sharp declines.  Fed moves to provide liquidity (including a cut in its overnight lending rate) helped stabilize markets and stocks wound up finishing the month in the black.  Large-cap stocks, as measured by the S&P 500* gained 1.5 percent.  Small-caps saw better gains - the Russell 2000* was up 2.3 percent - but still trail large-caps by a significant margin year-to-date.

Growth has outpaced value across the market spectrum, by modest margins in August, and by larger margins for the first eight months of 2007.  Foreign stocks lost 0.7 percent in August based on the MCSI/EAFE index*.  The volatility in stocks drove demand for higher-quality bonds.

So far, the size of the equity correction has not been alarming - the S&P 500* was down 10 percent at its worse.  There have been 87 10 percent declines in the S&P 500* over the past 80 years.  That amounts to slightly more than on per year on average - so a decline of this magnitude has not been rare, though we have not experienced one for quite a while.

Hope you enjoy the fall and the Buckeyes!!

 

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