The second quarter provided very few hiding places outside of US Equities. Nor did Q2 provide the double-digit returns in US equities that we experienced in the 1st quarter of the year for that matter. Still, in the face of deteriorating global debt markets, slippery Emerging Equities and plundered commodity portfolios, the 2-3% returns from the major US equity benchmarks made for an attractive relative comparison. The “2013 Average %” returns for each asset class are based upon the average of benchmarks in that category, and clearly the #1 ranked US equity asset class has provided the stable trend so far this year with 15% gains. On the other hand, the last-ranked asset class (commodities) has fallen nearly that much in 2013!