December was a mixed bag of performance for the major asset classes, mainly because fixed-income was weak. Foreign developed-market government bonds were particularly hard hit last month, shedding nearly 6%, as the table below shows. But that's not necessarily a recurring offense, since a fair slice of the loss is due to a strong 4% rally in the U.S. Dollar Index, a rare jump in the buck and its biggest monthly gain since January 2009.Meanwhile, REITs led in the winners circle for December, rising by nearly 7%. And equities the world over showed handsome gains as well. But thanks to the selling in most of the world's bond markets, our Global Market Index slipped a bit in the last month of 2009.

For last year overall, however, there was no reason to complain. As calendar year gains go, 2009's were among the best on record. Indeed, our own GMI rose by more than 21%. Not bad for an index that requires no investing skills or portfolio decisions, other than to own everything in its market-cap weight and let it ride.