The 2012 Stock Market: Early Returns

Year-to-date, the S&P 500 is up around 12 percent, an average return for the market since 1926. Both the Nikkei Index in Japan and Euro Stoxx 600 are up around 13 percent. Given the problems in Greece and other European countries' sovereign debt and the recent threat of a fiscal cliff, an average market return seems pretty good. Surprisingly, the VIX, a measure of stock market volatility, is also down by 40 percent since the beginning of the year.