Sage Advice Quarterly Market Review 1Q2016

The first quarter was a wild ride for investors as rising fears of a global recession and less conviction in policy-makers’ ability to support markets, prompted a broad based and significant risk-off trade across the capital markets through the first five weeks of the year. By the early February trough, global equity markets had corrected 12%, oil roughly 30%, Treasury yields had collapsed 60 basis points, and credit spreads had gapped out. Investor pessimism was reversed as central banks signaled easier policy and economic data was more supportive through the back half of the quarter. This sparked a risk rally that resulted in equities ending the quarter flat, oil recouping close to 20%, and credit spreads returning to where they began the year.