I hate to say it, but war is good for stocks.

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.

You would worry, because an IED would be in a pile of trash, it would be in a pothole. It could be almost anywhere. I was in a Hummer when an explosion went off and hit the second hummer after us.

Both governors and every commissioner are responsible. This is not necessarily a money emergency because people are crossing the bridges, paying their tolls and the bills are being paid. But bond markets do not look favorably on unpredictable, unreliable, politically driven decisions. Government organizations are created to pass budgets and meet bond covenants. To do otherwise is irresponsible.

Longer-term rates will not rise dramatically as long as the Fed keeps the short-term policy rate at 1 percent. However, the pressure for upward movement in bond rates is already there and will persist.

Over the last few years, we've had a number of clients liquidate a portion of their stock portfolios and move it to real estate. Real estate has become an asset class with its own momentum, and it is natural for strategists to write about it.