The stock market “climbed a wall of worry” in the second quarter, fending off concerns about Brexit and slowing growth patterns. During the quarter there was a sharp downtick within the general labor expansion, but recent evidence indicates that it was an aberration. Finally, the Fed signaled that it will be patient as far as interest rate policy.

We just wanted to take the opportunity to point out some interesting trends within the core investments in your portfolio. First of all, interest rates continued to drop to new lows and that sparked strong returns in bond funds. The core Vanguard Total Bond and Fidelity US Bond Index Premium funds were up more than 6% for the year so far, outstripping the stock market. Based on that, balanced portfolios actually slightly outperformed growth portfolios. Read Full Update