If you ask us, last year was a great time to be an investor. We believe risk was handsomely rewarded, and prudence was unceremoniously shown the door. On the heels of such a strong year, our investment team thought that we should break out the proverbial forecasting “crystal ball” and spend some time discussing four themes that we could see unfold over the new year.

The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing was July 20th. In studying that tremendous achievement and that group of courageous people, I came across an old NASA phrase they used whenever a challenge arose: “Ignore, adjust, or abort”. These were their options when there was a problem. As we face a cacophony of challenges from the global economy and capital markets that phrase has stuck with me.

We’ve all understood the concept of diversification since we first heard the phrase, “Don't put all your eggs in one basket.” At Catalyst Private Wealth we’re cautioning our clients, “Don’t put all your eggs into US equities.” While perhaps not as memorable as that childhood idiom, given our current 10-year US equity bull market, that advice helps us minimize investment losses. Which is more important than a catchy phrase.