So far so good. The markets have really changed since the last time we talked.

As I write this on Thursday we have rallied about 8 percent since the low in July. That is a big-time rally.

Generally all of the averages are at record highs. This is a good thing. There are still a lot of differing opinions on what is going to happen. Will the election come into play; prices have not retreated significantly in years, when will that happen?

By significantly I mean a 20 percent correction. This bull market is over 88 months in duration, the second longest since 1950. The longest was about 113 months ending in March of 2000.

You know I like smart people. I watch a couple of them. One is 100 percent invested and one is 100 percent cash. The only thing we know for sure is that one of them is going to be wrong. We just don’t know which one.

August normally, since 1991, has been the worst-performing month of the year. During the same time period, April has been the best month.

We always talk about trying to time the market. When should we be invested and when should we be out?

These numbers are not exact, but you’ll get the idea. In the last six years the Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index has been up an average of 14.6 percent per year total return. If you were out the six best performing days during the period (not per year, six days out of the six years), your return was a little over 10 percent. You just cannot time when to be in and when to be out.

So what is going on? As I write this the Dow is up almost 8 percent in 2016. The Standard and Poor’s 500 is up over 7 percent, small stocks as measured by the Russell 2000 are up about 8 percent and the S&P Midcap 400 index of medium-sized companies is up almost 12 percent. The Nasdaq is lagging at +2.6 percent. It stands to reason that the broad market of most stocks traded is up over 7 percent. At this point in the year, we will take that.

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Gold is up around 25 percent, trading around $1,339 per ounce. However silver is the winner, up over 45 percent. Everyone wants to talk gold, but it has been silver. This year the cost of orange juice is up about 27 percent, soybeans up 15 percent, lumber 25 percent, and sugar is up almost 30 percent. Commodities getting cheaper include rice down about 25 percent, wheat down 15 percent, live cattle down about 8 percent, hogs down about 7 percent and corn down about 10 percent. A mixed bag if you will.

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How about Brexit? Kinda been much ado about nothing hasn’t it?

Of course we don’t know about what is going to be the fallout over the coming years. That is really the deal in my view. How is this going to work going forward? We just don’t know.

In my view some of the European countries really have issues. Italy’s stock market is down over 20 percent. Most Italians pay 50 percent income taxes according to someone I know. That just means the waste is significant. If you had to pick a number, many of Europe’s stock markets are down around 6 percent. Not a horror story, just not good. Spain is down around 10 percent, but Italy is the clear loser. Outside of Europe, Brazil is up 31 percent. Rio and the Olympics are in big trouble. It certainly does not surprise me.

I don’t know that anyone ever makes money on the Olympics. It cost millions, if not billions, to put it on. I think it cost Russia around $50 billion, and when China hosted the number was around $40 billion. The Olympic committee, in my view, made a really poor judgment call to give the games to Rio. They cannot afford it and there has never been any doubt. It could be a huge failure. Their market is doing well but I don’t think anything else is. In the Asia/Pacific Rim, China is down 15 percent and Japan is off about 12 percent.

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I was in the Man Cave the other day when my wife came in. She asked me about my visit to my friend Louie’s house. I told her that I went in his front door and he was on the phone so I just sat down on the couch. A full 30 minutes went by and he did not say a word but the phone was at his ear. I told her I finally whispered to him, “What is going on?” He whispered back, “I’m talking to my wife.” She didn’t think that was funny.

Howie Pentony is a Portersville client portfolio manager.