S&P 500

Henderson's Bill McQuaker has initiated short positions on the FTSE 100 and S&P 500 across his multi-manager range on expectations of near-term pressures for equity markets.

John Chatfeild-Roberts' Jupiter Merlin team has re-introduced Thames River's Global Bond fund into its £664m Balanced portfolio on the belief currency calls can enhance returns in 2010.

US stock markets opened sharply lower in early trading following negative consumer and house price data.

The introduction of exchange-traded funds that are cheap, transparent and easy to trade has heralded a recent explosion in the number of different types of strategies available to the investor.

We remain constructive on the outlook for the US equity market over the next year and continue to see upside potential for the S&P 500 Index to between 1250 and 1350 by the end of 2010.

The first few trading sessions of 2009 were surprisingly bullish continuing the momentum of a late December rally.

HSBC Global Asset Management will merge its £26m American Growth fund into its £99m American Index portfolio following the former's struggle to outperform its benchmark.

It has been over a year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Credit spreads, which skyrocketed during the crisis and remained high early this year, have retracted somewhat.

With fiscal and monetary stimulus appearing from all directions, the US GDP hit a positive 3.5% in Q3 2009, most likely indicating the end of the recession.

The American stock market is having a good year. From its low point of 677 on 9 March 2009, the S&P 500 index has recovered by over 60%.