Here we are again, the beginning of a new year and the passing of 2009.

I thought that it was a tough year, but I am happy with the investment results. Here is a reminder that these scribblings are just my opinion and not necessarily those of anyone I work with or for.

In early March 2009 if you had told me that the Dow and the S and P, which were down 25 percent from the beginning of the year until the lows of March 9, were going to be up around 20 percent, I would have been doubting.

I felt like the market might run 20 or 30 percent from the lows, as I told some of my clients, but I did not think it would run about 70 percent from the lows.

The Standard and Poor's 500 hit 666 in March and is trading above 1100. I mean, think about it. We had everything from GM and Chrysler, to financial reform, to Bernie Madoff to Tiger. We had just been through the 2008's $147 oil, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, the whole deal. Stocks were down some 8 percent in January alone. It was not pleasant.

I never did think that the world was coming to an end, and I told you that. My reasoning was simple: I think we live in a country that has the most resilient and strongest economy in the world.

We are not out of the woods yet by a long way, but we are trudging along so far.

As you know I like to take the contrary view. I have no idea what the markets are going to do today, next week or next year, but I have noticed the "crowd" has been pumping billions of dollars out of the stock market into the bond market.

Most times when the herd moves so strongly, they are wrong. There is plenty of money around to buy stocks. The question is will it be used?

Some estimates put cash at about $3 trillion. I think the economy holds the key. If the economy as a whole begins to show dramatic improvement, then things may be fine in 2010. If not, then ...

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Let's take a look at 2009 and what did happen in the stock markets around the world.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 18.8 percent in 2009. The Standard and Poor's 500 was up 23.4 percent, the NASDAQ Composite roared ahead 43.8 percent.

My favorite index to watch is the Wilshire 5000 which tracks most stocks traded, and it was up 29.4 percent. The Dow Jones Global Index, excluding the United States, was up 37 percent.

Many of the foreign markets were booming with five of them returning over 70 percent. Yep, 70 percent. Those markets were Taiwan, India, China, Israel and Brazil.

Bonds were mixed with most treasury indexes returning negative numbers while most municipal bonds and mortgage backed bonds had positive returns. In the popular commodities, crude oil was up almost 78 percent, gold up almost 24 percent, and natural gas was actually down about one percent.

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People ask me what I think about the future. Remember these are just guesses. No one knows what is going to happen going forward.

• Having said that, it seems to me that for investors to be successful going forward our portfolios are not going to look anything like they used to look. I think that broader diversification among asset classes is the key.

• I think that nonstock market related sectors are going to be important to us. I've always done some of that, but I think I'll be doing more.

• I would not be surprised to see certain real estate do well from these levels.

• It seems to me that with India and China having one half the world's population, those people need stuff. Stuff like food and other commodities, lumber, copper, steel and the like.

• There is no secret to the revelation that our gross national product may be lucky to grow at 3 percent per year. There are countries, developed and not, that are growing much faster and at a higher rate. We may have to have more of our money outside the U.S. to participate.

• It would not surprise me to see U.S. investments become a very small or at least much smaller part of my investor's portfolios.

• Inflation could rear its ugly head. Maybe we need to protect ourselves.

I don't think that most investors can do all that on their own. You need to find someone to help you.

Right or wrong, that is what I think.

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And finally, my wife, you know the one who doesn't think I'm funny, told me the other day that I have to be a little more careful when it comes to spending money. I told her that when I was Christmas shopping, I saw a Teddy Bear that I just could not resist. I paid $10 for it. I named him Mohammed.

As I was walking through the mall a nice lady came up to me, obviously in a hurry, and offered me $30 for the bear. I sold him to her.

My wife asked, "And?" I said, "What I want to know is did I make a prophet?"

She looked at me like I had two heads, turned and walked away.

Howie Pentony is a Butler financial advisor with UVEST Financial Services, member FINRA/SIPC.