While there was plenty of bad news in 2010, it might surprise some to realize that there was also a lot of good news. It is human nature to focus on the negative - the dark and scary things that can hurt us - but it can be dangerous for investors to tilt too far either to optimism or pessimism. With that in mind, let's review some of the good news of 2010. (Find out where to turn when looking to invest in a tumultuous market. See Industries That Thrive On Recession.)
The Markets Continued to Rebound
For equity investors, 2010 was another strong year. While the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both came up short of 2009's bounces of the bottom, growth of nearly 13% and 17% respectively goes down as a very solid year and an above-average performance.
The Economy is Slowly Improving
There is plenty that is still not right with the U.S. economy - unemployment is too high, wages are not moving, housing is a mess and consumer confidence is shaky. However, the economy continues to claw its way back. Industrial activity picked up throughout 2010, rail traffic remains strong and corporate profitability is on the upswing.
Disaster Averted in Europe
At its worst, the sovereign debt crisis of Europe heralded the end of economic cooperation in Western Europe, the return of dog-eat-dog "begger thy neighbor" economic policies and the collapse of major European financial institutions. Luckily, officials swallowed hard and decided to bail out their banks and pass the costs to their citizens. Time will tell whether austerity programs in Greece and Ireland have their intended effect, and whether Spain, Portugal and Italy avert trouble, but the situation has at least calmed down for the time being.
Please continue to the full column:
http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0111/10-Financial-Blessings-Of-2010.aspx
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