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Fourth Quarter 2011

The Barclays Capital Municipal Bond Index rose 2.12 percent during the fourth quarter. It was the second quarter in a row of strong performance for the municipal market. For the third quarter in a row low supply and solid demand pushed the market higher. The best-performing maturities in the municipal market were the intermediate areas centered around the 10-year portion of the curve. The yield curve flattened as yields on the long and intermediate portions of the curve declined by more than the short end. Credit factors also played a role in performance as low quality generally outperformed high quality. AAA-rated municipals rose by 1.77 percent in the quarter versus 2.73 percent for BBB-rated bonds. General obligation municipals slightly outperformed revenue backed bonds. Within the revenue sector, industrial development and hospital bonds outperformed while water and sewer issues lagged. In specialty state trading, Illinois and California outperformed, while New York and Texas underperformed.

Broadly speaking, the fixed-income markets experienced a modest rally during the quarter, as fears of the ongoing financial crisis in Europe and the rising potential of very slow growth or even recession virtually ensured the Federal Reserve would not tighten monetary policy for the foreseeable future. The Fed stayed on the sidelines during the quarter, letting other global central banks provide additional stimulus to the global economy.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

The Barclays Capital Municipal Bond Index is an unmanaged index representative of the tax-exempt bond market.


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