Take Aways

We would like to introduce you to a feature on our website called the “Investment Policy Committee (IPC) Take Aways”.  The Take Aways are weekly write-ups of discussion from the Investment Policy Committee meetings.  They summarize our collective thoughts about the economy, interest rates, stock prices, news, and other topics of interest.They are not meant to replace the blog, but rather to provide a way to convey our views about the markets on a more timely and regular basis.  Below are the Take Aways from the most recent IPC meeting (7/29/13):  

Record Highs

Since 1900, the length of bull markets have ranged in duration from 3 months to over 84 months with the weighted average being 57 months.  The current bull market, which started in March of 2009, has lasted 52 months and counting.  As we have matured into this run, there have been 21 days where the market set a new all-time high.  This represents 2% of the total bull market days – very modest relative to historical standards.  During the previous 10 bull markets, an average of 7% of all trading days set new all-time highs.In other words, we are still a very long way from running this stock market into overly high prices.  This bull market is not as hot as normal bull markets.  The more subdued upward march of this market is a good thing.  It’s not irrational exuberance, rather a measu