Each week, through this commentary, we aim to bring you a brief summary of the m ost important financial-related news.

Our primary goal is to educate you about f actors that have the potential to affect your investments, and to help you cut t hrough all the media clutter to find some clarity. Sometimes, finding that clari ty can be especially challenging. Last week, we were faced with a barrage of headlines from all over the world, an d each piece of news seemed to have its own unique impact. In the end, investor s struggled to make sense of all the news, and stocks ended a roller-coaster wee k in which all three indexes lost more than 2.5%. [1] Historically, the stock market has been sensitive to news. But amidst the uncert ainty of recent years, its sensitivity has been heightened to an unprecedented s cale. Headlines that would have barely made the evening news 10 years ago can ea sily lead a rally or retreat in a matter of minutes or hours in today s environment. Case in point from last week: Fitch put seven European countries on credit watch negative, and the markets retreated. Fitch affirmed the ratings of France, Belg ium, Spain, Slovenia, Italy, Ireland, and Cyprus, and the markets rallied.[2] Da ta came out showing holiday sales slowing, and the markets retreated.[3] Headlin es came out showing that holiday shopping boosts confidence in the recovery, and the markets rallied.[4] We could repeat this scenario with housing data, gold p rices, oil prices, and nearly any other shred of financial-related news. What is our point? Don t buy into the hype! Is it important to monitor world events for signals about how investments could perform? Yes. But is it healthy to disse ct every smidge of news and then alter your investment strategy at each sign of strength or weakness? No. When signals are mixed and finding clarity is difficul t, it is especially important to stick to your long-term investment strategy. Le tting short-term, erratic moves dictate your investment decisions can easily lea d to unnecessary losses. It can be a jungle out there there s no doubt about it. But just as you would trust an experienced jungle guide to lead you to safety, please trust us to guide you th rough these uncertain times. Use the weeks ahead to enjoy some quiet time with y our family and friends, and tune out the noise for a little while. We urge you n ot to let the media steal your focus from the things that matter most.