The year reached its halfway point over the weekend, which makes this a good time to look back at how the markets have been doing. We have had an awful lot of volatility, but the overall picture remains pretty good.
* The S&P 500 finished up a solid 6.9 percent. But it was also up 5.4 percent through the first half of 2011, before losing 4.7 percent in the second half of the year.
* The Dow Jones industrial average is up a more modest 3.8 percent this year. But it was up 8.7 percent in the first half of last year as well, before dropping 2.9 percent in the second half.
* The Nasdaq has been the strongest of the major indexes, rising 11.4 percent so far this year. But it too rose solidly in the first half of 2011, gaining 6.1 percent, before giving it all back in the second half.
So yes, the first six months of this year have been encouraging. But be warned - we've seen this movie before.
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