Current conditions plus mid-term elections make for tough sledding

Jeffrey Hirsch, editor of the Stock trader's Almanac, says that history has shown that markets struggle in mid-term election years, particularly when the president is a first-term Democrat, and that coupled with rising inflation and interest rates, it should make for a market that struggles this year to achieve modest single-digit gains. Lawrence McMillan, president of McMillan Analysis says that the next move of the Standard and Poor's 500 -- whether it tops 4,800 or declines below 4,500 -- will go a long way to determine what the market is capable of this year; Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American Financial Corp. talks about the wild conditions of the housing market, but dispels much of the concern that rising mortgage rates will change them dramatically, and Alex Condrell of Cliffwater discusses how investments in middle-market corporate credit should overcome current conditions to generate something close to historic return levels of 9 percent.