Someone asked me the other day if I would rather deal and manage money with men or with women.

Generally, I like dealing with women. In my experience, women are not afraid to tell you they have no idea what is going on. Men are less likely to say that.

Women's egos tend to be more under control than most men. I've found you better perform and do what you said you would do, or the woman will go somewhere else.

I have always considered myself a moderately intelligent human being. When it comes to women, I know some stuff.

I read in the investment newsletter Positive Patterns that men should understand some issues. These issues are attributable to Dave Jennings.

The article said women make up 60 percent of the enrollment in U.S colleges and universities. They outlive men. The majority of high school valedictorians in America are women. More women than men are entering postgraduate programs.

I know what Dave knows. Men, it is just a matter of time. You had better be getting used to dealing with women because they are coming. Some of them are already here.

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Well, the snow is coming, and so is the end of the year. As I write this Tuesday, we have less than two months to go.

What do I think about the markets? I think it has been an interesting ride over the past year. I suspect many people might have recouped their losses and then some, stretching back from October 2008, assuming they stayed invested.

As usual, my opinions are exactly that, my opinions, and not those of anyone I work with or for. I have no idea what the markets are going to do, but as I have said many times, historically we have the strongest economy in the world and the best workers, so I feel pretty good.

Having said that, the developing countries are coming. We don't make much stuff anymore. We likely will buy more stuff from other producers.

That will increase if the dollar ever gets stronger. Right now, people are buying a lot of our stuff because they are buying it at a discount. One of the things we do sell is food. That will probably continue.

All of this is an investment challenge. Where is the money going? How can I make some investments there and wait until everyone else figures it out. This is what I try to do, and it is tough. It's also fun.

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Let's look at the numbers. Through the end of October year-to-date, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 10.7 percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 is up 14.7 percent. The Nasdaq Composite is up 29.68 percent. The Wilshire 5000, which tracks most U.S. stocks traded, is up 19 percent.

Many investors have foreign investments, and the Dow Jones Global Index, excluding the U.S., is up 30.8 percent. The Investors Daily Mutual Fund Index is up 26.6 percent.

Those are fairly good numbers in most years. I'm happy with them this year.

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In the commodities market, crude oil is up 72 percent this year. Gold is up more than 17 percent, but natural gas, even though it has moved up, is still down 10 percent. Items such as corn, soybeans, coffee and cattle had rallies in the past 30 days or so but are now trending downward.

Copper and sugar remain fairly strong. Hogs are at their highest since late July.

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The bond market for you yield buyers is not exciting. Spreads have tightened, but if you like U.S. Treasury Bonds, you are still only getting about 3.4 percent going out 10 years. Corporate bonds, as well as junk, have rallied somewhat.

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If you have any questions, just send them along to Howie.Pentony@uvestfinancail.com, and I'll get back to you. Or go to www.nextierwealth.com

Someone pointed me to a Web site called The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat, which has what is called "rules of bureaucracy." I would call them rules of life, and here are a few of them. I might paraphrase a little:

1. Never do anything that would cause the film crew of 60 Minutes to chase you down a hall.

2. It's about the money; follow the money.

3. Document everything you do. If you didn't write it down, it didn't happen.

4. Nothing simple is ever easy.

5. There's a reason; there's always a reason.

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