Sage Advice Quarterly Market Review 3Q2011

The third quarter was punishing for risk assets as a relentless flow of negative news on both the economic and policy fronts pushed risk aversion to extreme levels. Deteriorating economic data including downward revisions in U.S. GDP, a drawn out and contentious debt ceiling debate and fears that Euro policy makers would not contain the intensifying sovereign debt crisis caused a crisis in investor confidence and a re-assessment of the global economic outlook. This resulted in a global equity sell-off, lower commodity prices, wider credit spreads and sharply lower Treasury yields.