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J.P. Morgan Funds Releases Q3 Market Guide

By Marlene Y. Satter

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J.P. Morgan Funds announced Tuesday that its “Guide to the Markets” for the third quarter of 2011 is now available in PDF form.

andrew goldbergAccording to Andrew D. Goldberg (left), executive director and market strategist on the J.P. Morgan Funds U.S. Market Strategy Team, the book is designed to be user friendly and simplify complex information.

“If it takes more than two minutes to understand a chart,” says Goldberg, “it shouldn’t be in there.”

The ultimate goal for putting together the guide, now in its eighth year, he explains, “was to help financial advisors to encourage their clients to take emotion out of the investment process and to provide an accurate perspective. There’s no commentary—just facts. It’s fundamental to our philosophy. We’re never going to be able to predict the future,” he adds, “but if you can understand exactly where you are today, you will be a more informed investor. We provide perspective, not predictions.”

In particular, according to the company, this guide can be helpful in addressing topics such as:

  • The slowdown in the U.S. economy
  • The pace of U.S. economic growth and the Treasury market
  • The outlook for the U.S. dollar
  • Emerging market growth and commodity prices
  • Sovereign debt worries
  • Valuations across asset classes.

The guide is broken down into five segments: equities, economy, fixed income, international and asset class. Within each segment are charts and graphs that offer insights into various aspects of each category.

For example, charts in the equity segment include such data as returns by style and sector, investment style valuations, earnings estimates and valuation drivers and the deployment of corporate cash. The economy segment looks at cyclical sectors, consumer finances, and federal finances, among other things, as well as employment and the housing bubble.

Yields and returns, as well as interest rates and inflation, credit conditions, emerging market debt and foreign ownership of U.S. Treasuries give snapshots of important factors to consider in the field of fixed income. International data include global monetary policy as well as global equity valuations for developed and emerging markets, and sovereign debt vulnerability. The asset class category looks at everything from mutual fund flows and dividend income to gold and tax rates.