The quote from America’s most famous fictional Marine, Gomer Pyle, comes to mind when reviewing events of 2016. The year got off to one of the worst starts ever as the S&P 500 dropped 11% in the first six weeks and oil traded below 30 dollars per barrel. The Brexit vote in June proved all the pundits wrong. Finally, the election of Donald Trump to be the 45th President of the United States certainly was the ultimate surprise. Many market strategists predicted an immediate market drop of 5-10% in the unlikely event of a Trump win. Not only were the forecasters proved wrong, but the S&P 500 rose another 5% between election day and year-end on expectations of higher earnings growth and tax reform in 2017.
Read our full Q4 2016 Investor Letter