By Russell Cole, CLU, ChFC
The first quarter of 2017 is under our belt, and it was a very good start to the year in many ways. Small U.S. stocks, as measured by the Russell 2000, were up 2.47%; large U.S. stocks, as measured by the S&P 500, were up 6.07%.; international stocks, as measured by the MSCI EAFE, were up over 7%; U.S. bonds, as measured by the Barclays Aggregate Bond index, were up 0.82% (Source: Bloomberg). Yes, it feels good to start the year well, especially given the rough start to 2016.1