Bear-Market Rally, Recession - Now What?

These are interesting, and complicated, times for investing.

The U.S. stock market peaked 18 months ago, during which time there have been some questions answered and some new questions raised. While there are a few signs of "green chutes," the best indicator, the stock market, continues to stumble along near a bottom.

Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian recently made a rather loud case for not buying stocks or government bonds on CNBC. There is news about colleges slashing budgets due to poor endowment results and news about pension plans needing to take risks previously unconsidered to meet pension obligations. Those headlines prod individual investors to consider their long-term investment plans. ...