Once again this year we’ve prepared a Year-in-Review audio podcast for our clients and website visitors.

As we now know, 2011 was another year of heavy volatility which ultimately resulted in little change in most of the major stock indexes.

In this podcast, we examine that volatility, along with an analysis of risk and reward. We also discuss the advantages of defensive investing.

The past several days have been very trying for investors. The steep single-day losses—on top of the volatility of the past few months—have been nerve-wracking (to say the least). We all know that we should stay focused for the long term, but that is difficult to do in such tumultuous times

So, what do we do now?

Earlier today, I sent an e-mail to all of my clients offering them three choices which could be made at this time in the context of their investment portfolios.

In that same e-mail, I promised a follow-up explanatory note which includes my impressions of what has transpired thus far.

That’s how two of my favorite market experts view the current debt ceiling crisis. The first is a stock market specialist; the other, an expert in the bond market.

The first expert is Dan Sullivan of the Chartist Mutual Fund Newsletter. He has been publishing his newsletter since 1969 and has a stellar track record, outperforming the stock market through just about all time periods. He was one of only a few investors who actually sidestepped the 2008 bear market.

Investors have been subjected to a relentless barrage of media coverage pertaining to the debt ceiling problem over the past several days and weeks.

Unfortunately—and quite obviously—no one knows what the implications might actually be should our Congress fail to meet the impending August 2nd deadline. Therefore we are all left to surmise what those possibilities are.

As we’ve all painfully witnessed over the past six weeks, the markets have experienced some distressing—and somewhat unnerving—volatility on a variety of occasions. Just when investors have a sense that markets have stabilized a bit, there is another gut-wrenching drop in domestic or international equity prices.

click to hear podcast

As I sat down to write this—my very first blog—a litany of idea and thoughts...

click to hear podcast