The Stock & Bond Markets With all the talk about a signs of hope like "green shoots" and other optimistic cheerleaders joining the chorus, it's worth taking a step back and getting some perspective. None of today's cheerleaders were cheering in January & February when the market had its worse start for the year in history. All "talking heads" were doomsayers. Now they're cheerleaders. What's the point? Simply that there is nothing to be learned in the "echo chamber" of Wall Street since it doesn't tell investors what's going to happen next. Why? Because nobody knows. That's why it makes sense to adopt an "all season's" strategy that works in good markets and bad. What that means is "outperformance" pure and simple. Outperformance simply means going up by more in good times and down by less in bad regardless of whether you're a conservative, moderate or aggressive investor. The best part is that outperformance is easy to measure (check Shoreline's "Portfolio Performance" column link to the right and you'll see not only outperformance over the past 1, 3, 5 & 10-year periods but that 2009 has been the biggest outperformance year ever relative to the S&P 500 Index. The strategy of helping investors select the appropriate type of portfolio for risk relative to return, establishing a balanced allocation accordingly and re-balancing on a regular balance has resulted in almost a 200% better return than the market net of fees over the past 10 years. Feel free to inquire for more details.

Corporate and municipal bonds are offer attractive yields relative to Treasury bills, notes and bonds which many invested in due to the inherent safety of Treasuries. The yield for 1-year Treasuries is only about .5%, for 5-year notes about 2.5%, for 10-year bonds about 3.5% and around 4.5% for 30-year bonds. Investment-grade municipals yield tax free income and are paying about 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4.5% for the same time periods. Similarly, investment-grade corporate bonds are yielding 2.5%, 3%, 5% and 7%. Given the passage of the stimulus package, the higher yields outside of the Treasury market are compelling.

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Real Estate According to David Sokol who runs Warren Buffets HomeServices of America real estate brokerage, the 2nd largest in the country, it will be until mid-2011 before we see a sustained recovery in prices. Despite an increase in existing home sales last month, there are also record foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies (which lead to foreclosures). These foreclosures and delinquencies, when coupled with those owners who want or need to sell but are holding off as long as possible in hope of a price recovery, create a "shadow backlog" of unsold homes. It is this excess supply and a difficult borrowing environment are why the recovery will take longer, according to Sokol, than many currently believe.   Robert Schiller, Yale professor and co-founder of the Case-Schiller Index agrees saying "there are very few V -shaped recoveries in real estate." While pricing declines are moderating, with nationwide median prices down 24% since 2006, the bottom will be prolonged giving buyers an opportunity to take their time selecting properties. The good news is that downside appears limited and many will qualify for the $8,000 tax credit for "first time" home buyers through much of 2009.