It bears remembering that the stock market is forward looking (about 6 months), so if you expect interest rate hikes in the later half of half of 2010, keep a close eye on the exit door when summer comes around.

Financial crisis or the Great Recession, if you still remember them, seems so far away… we are now in the best six-month stock market rally since 1933. The bulls have been running riot in the stock market, seemingly unassailable and making money effortlessly, while the bears are licking their wounds.

The key is not to be overexposed to the stock market and stay nimble as the opportunities that present themselves may not follow traditional recovery patterns. Stocks could be depressed further or languish for years, so if you see the need to take profits off the table, then just do it.