Earlier this week the stock market was up almost 20% on a year-to-date basis.  It has been driven upwards primarily on the back of an expanding economy, explosion in corporate earnings, and even a very, very positive recent employment report.  Since then, however,  it's clear that some storm clouds are brewing and we could experience periodic braking and a temporary slowdown.  Market observers are pulling back their outlook for growth somewhat in the second half of the year.  As Commerce Chief Economist Scott Colbert, CFA, explained in a previous segment,  we are heading into the part of the recovery where we are transitioning from a reliance on government stimulus to a natural, self-sustaining economy.  Scott sees this as rough weather that we're going to have to get through on our way to our long-term, positive economic outlook, as he further explains in this edition of “Five Minutes With Scott Colbert.”

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