To say that markets have been volatile in 2011 is an understatement. Uncertainty regarding the outcome of the ongoing European debt crisis continues to be the primary cause of market gyrations, yet other factors have come to bear as well, including the Arab Spring, the earthquake and reactor meltdown in Japan, monetary tightening and inflation in China, sovereign debt downgrades, and devastating floods in Thailand. In our opinion, all of these events have driven volatility, but not the overall market trend. We believe the overall market trend has been led by a push-pull relationship between the private sector trying to deleverage and the world government maintaining ultra-easy monetary and fiscal policy.