Despite some severe stock market downturns over the past 15 years, little has changed when it comes to how investors approach the stock market.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the typical U.S. corporation reports a 9.3 cent profit for every dollar of sales. Over the past 60 years, there have been only a few times when it has gotten higher (i.e., 10% in Q4 2011). Since 1953, the profit margin has averaged just 5.9% (< 6 cents per dollar of sales).

MLP investors are taxed differently, depending on the investment vehicle used. Some forms of ownership are extremely tax efficient (i.e., large tax deferral and long-term capital gains) and other structures are very tax inefficient (i.e., depreciation recapture and ordinary income taxes). In general, the longer the holding period, the better the tax benefits.

VIX is an abbreviation for "volatility index." Its actual calculation is complicated, but the basic goal is to measure how much volatility investors expect to see in the S&P 500 over the next 30 days, based on prices of S&P 500 Index options. When options traders think the stock market is likely to be calm, the VIX is low; when they expect big swings in the market, the VIX goes up.

VIX Index (index readings—not returns)

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According to a May 2013 WSJ article, the total amount of NYSE margin debt at the end of March 2013 was 2.7% of the total market capitalization of the S&P 500. At its previous peak, investors had borrowed as much as 2.9% of the S&P 500; at its crisis low, investors were borrowing 2.3% of the S&P 500’s market value.

The 60/40 (S&P 500/long-term government bonds) portfolio, rooted in modern portfolio theory, was first popularized in the late 1950s. Starting in the 1900s, the average annualized return of a 60/40 mix has ranged from 3% (1910s) to over 14% (1980s and 1990s) over the past 10 decades.

60/40 Portfolio: Average Annualized Return

The Dow Jones All Equity REIT Index tracks 136 REITs. As of the beginning of 2013, this index had a 3% dividend yield. The DJ sectors that comprise their REIT index had the following 2012 returns: