Overall, the US economy continues to surprise Wall Street
and many market observers on the upside. The second quarter
was one of the most volatile quarters in recent memory in terms
of news flow and expectations, and as a result negative sentiment
dominated the quarter. The fallout from the banking crisis at the
beginning of the quarter and the widely reported attempted coup
in Russia were just two examples. The resulting negative
sentiment drove many professional market participants to
position themselves for a down market.