The quarter began innocently enough, with mixed data (see a brief summary below) and then came March and all bets were off. Ultimately the US stock market suffered its worst quarter in 12 years.

It was, simply put, a great year to be an investor.

Performance for stock markets was not great for the quarter, nor for the trailing year, but how about those year-to-date numbers?

A review of the economy and markets for the second quarter of 2019.

The first quarter was a sharp reversal from the fourth quarter.

What a difference a quarter makes as the stock market went from a stellar third quarter into a slide that began on Oct. 3 and took most markets into bear market territory.

The Markets 09/30/18 Close 06/30/18 Close 3rd Qtr. Change 09/30/17 Close  12 Mo. Change   YTD Change Dow 26,458   24,271   +9.01%    22,405      +18.09%    +7.04% NASDAQ    8,046    7,510  +7.14%     6,496      +23.86%    +16.56% S&P 500    2,914    2,718   +7.21%     2,519      +15.68%     […]

Other than large tech stocks, the quarter ended with a relative whimper.

We almost forgot about volatility but it returned this quarter, if not with a vengeance, certainly enough to get our attention.

This quarter’s market returns resemble last quarter’s except they are mostly better.