As we enter the New Year, there is great expectation that the anemic economic recovery in the U.S. is finally gaining traction and about to accelerate. The U.S. stock market has anticipated an improving economic trend since Labor Day as the major indices have gained an average of 12.8% since then, entering 2011 at two year highs. Spurred by the Fed's announcement of its quantitative easing program (QE2) at the end of August, commodity and raw material prices surged as the planned increase in liquidity depressed the U.S. Dollar and led to a further flight into hard assets. The bond market started a protracted decline initially due to increasing concerns about the inflation bubble that would be created by the QE2 program. The decline gained momentum in November and December as evidence of increased consumer spending led to expectations ... Log in to view full article.