The third quarter of 2016 provided a necessary respite from the volatility in the equity markets that we had seen for at least the prior twelve months. The S&P 500 returned slightly over 3.3% for the quarter, and the year-over-year return is north of 12%. While the equity markets performed well, the United States economy still has significant challenges it must contend with: high levels of underemployment low inflation bordering on, in many cases, deflation a highly contentio