Germany’s DAX Index has had a strong start this with a return of 3.1% compared to the poor performance last year. All of the major developed markets in Europe are in the positive so far this year. The Brexit drama continues and may dampen the markets’ upward movement should there be a no-deal hard Brexit.The S&P 500 is also up by 3.57% on price basis year-to-date.

• Emerging markets can’t escape the Fed’s balance sheet unwind (FT Alphaville)
• Standard Chartered : India to outpace US as world’s second most powerful economy (Market Screener)
• Dividend Growth Strategies and Downside Protection (Indexology Blog)
• 7 things you may not know about IRAs (Fidelity) and Funding an IRA: What Is and Is Not Considered Compensation(Lord Abbett)
• In the Know: The Current State of the Utilities Sector (Franklin Templeton)
• Stocks are cheap(ish) (Blackrock)
• 29 reasons not to invest in the stock market (Schroders) and Is this popular measure of stock market value giving a misleading “sell” signal? (Schroders)
• Gold and Commodities Set to Soar in 2019 (U.S. Funds)
• Interactive Asset Allocation Chart (Research Affiliates)
• Things I’m Pretty Sure About (Morgan Housel)

Click to enlarge

Prague Opera House, Prague, Czech Republic