The markets crept higher and eventually hit new 2010 highs in late April. Commodities followed suit with oil topping $86, gold breaking out past $1,170 and the Canadian Dollar once again hitting parity vs. the USD.

This all happened amid Greece returning to the spotlight at the end of April for what seemed like the umpteenth time with disturbing revelations that the country’s 2009 budget gap was actually worse than originally feared. The Greek government reported a deficit of €32 Billion or 13.6% of GDP amid the inaccuracy and the uncertainty surrounding the official Greek accounting statistics.

Following in the footsteps of other debt rating agencies, Moody’s Investor Service cut the Greek government’s debt rating (four notches above 'Junk') on worsened deficit position. Greek stocks and bonds rallied on news of an official request, but the mechanics of how many Euros the Greek government can borrow, for how long, and at what price was not yet known. This issue turned investor sentiment negative in early May as the markets feared Greece may not be saved.

If a country could fail than rumblings of what this meant for the future of the European Union, its member countries and the Euro catapulted global economic fears. We won’t beat the story to death as we have highlighted comments at the end of this report on our concerns moving forward and have the next page dedicated to shedding more light and helping our clients understand the issue in its basic form. This has been and continues to be the major drivers of investor sentiment these days; thus market movements.

See the full PDF version of this month's commentary as well as the archive in our Market Info Section

• Europe's Web of Debt & the Bailout
• Is Our Growth Strategy Ever Wrong?
• Our Positions, Performance & Looking Ahead