View from the Observation Deck  

1. Today's blog post is an update of one we did on 8/20/15 (click here to view). Investors have committed a lot of capital to European equities so far in 2015.
2. Year-to-date through September 2015, investors funneled a net $32.78 billion into European stock funds and ETFs, with $7.02 billion of it coming in Q3, according to Morningstar.
3. Since March 2015, the European Central Bank (ECB) has purchased $68 billion (EUR 60 billion) worth of bonds (mostly government) in the market in an effort to stimulate growth and push inflation higher, according to Morningstar.
4. The stimulus program is scheduled to run through September 2016, or until inflation approaches the ECB's target rate of just under 2.0%.
5. ECB president Mario Draghi recently stated that the ECB's governing council would consider additional stimulus ideas to combat the recent slowdown in global growth, according to MarketWatch.

This chart is for illustrative purposes only and not indicative of any actual investment. There can be no assurance that any of the projections cited will occur. The illustration excludes the effects of taxes and brokerage commissions and other expenses incurred when investing. Investors cannot invest directly in an index. The FTSE 100 Index is a capitalization-weighted index of the most highly capitalized companies traded on the London Stock Exchange. The CAC 40 Index reflects the performance of the 40 largest equities listed in France, measured by free-float market capitalization and liquidity. The DAX Index is a total return index of 30 selected German blue chip stocks traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The SMI Index (Swiss Market) is a capitalization-weighted index of the 20 largest (represents around 85% of Swiss equity market) and most liquid stocks of the SPI (Swiss Performance Index) universe. The IBEX 35 Index is the official index of the Spanish Continuous Market and is comprised of the 35 most liquid stocks. The OMX Stockholm 30 Index is a market-weighted price index consisting of the 30 most actively traded stocks on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The AEX Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index of the leading Dutch stocks traded on the Amsterdam Exchange. The BEL 20 Index is a modified capitalization-weighted index of the 20 most capitalized and liquid Belgian stocks traded on the Brussels Stock Exchange. The OMX Helsinki Index includes all the shares listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.

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