Equities showing signs of strength

In the wake of the corporate scandals and gloom about the US economy felt by investors at the start of last year, one might be forgiven for taking a pessimistic approach towards the equity market. The S&P 500 index fell by almost 25% last year and every one of the 10 broad market sectors ended the year down. The index is now 43% below the all-time high reached in March 2000 as investor sentiment plumbed new depths during the course of the year. Yet in spite of this despondency in the market, there was a surge of strength in the final three months of the year. Although some of this w...