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DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS <br /> Economic and Market Review <br /> Amid a back drop of robust economic data and strong corporate earnings, U.S. investors overcame concerns about an escalating trade <br /> war with China, an increasingly hawkish Fed, and a flattening yield curve to drive the U.S. equity market, as measured by the S&P 500 <br /> Index, to its best quarter since 2013. But with positive economic momentum in question outside of the U.S., equity markets overseas did <br /> not enjoy the same fate. The MSCI All Country World ex USA Index managed a modest total return of 0.7% for the third quarter, which <br /> was 7 percentage points behind the S&P 500. Further U.S. dollar strength contributed to the continuation of a streak of four consecutive <br /> quarters where the domestic equity market outpaced its foreign counterparts. <br /> Fiscal stimulus in the form of tax cuts to individuals and corporations has allowed the U.S. economy to heat up while most international <br /> economies are cooling off. Consensus economic forecasts expect the domestic economy to reaccelerate to 2.9% real growth this year <br /> from 1.5% and 2.2% in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Meanwhile, China's economy, which accounts for roughly a third of global economic <br /> growth, is expected to slow from 6.9% in 2017 to 6.6% in 2018 — its slowest pace since 1990. In reaction to the ongoing trade dispute <br /> with the U.S. and upward dollar momentum, investors fled China's local, domestic-oriented stock market (known as "A-shares"), pushing <br /> it into bear market territory this year after falling over 24%. <br /> International stocks were not the only asset class that lagged U.S. stock prices. Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg <br /> Commodity Index, were another casualty of the strong U.S. dollar and trade turmoil, falling -2% during the third quarter. Despite a stable <br /> oil market, falling prices for agricultural products and metals weighed on returns, continuing a longer-term trend of negative performance <br /> from the asset class. <br /> After a difficult start to the year and despite help from narrowing credit spreads, domestic investment grade bonds were unable to reclaim <br /> lost ground during the third quarter as the yield curve flattened and moved higher. The yield on the bellwether 10-year Treasury Note <br /> closed in on the recent highs set earlier in the year, settling up 0.20% for the quarter. Meanwhile, yield on the 2-year Note continued its <br /> seemingly relentless assent this year, rising 29 basis points to 2.81%. <br /> A HIGHMARK® City of Pleasanton <br /> 2 <br /> CAPITAL MANAGEMENT <br />