It was one of the most infamous building fires in U.S. history. The date was November 28, 1942. The place was the Cocoanut Grove, arguably the finest nightclub in all of New England. Up until that fateful day, The Grove was the place to be seen and was frequented by sport stars, celebrities and power elites. It was also, however, a place with dubious ties and was a tragic accident just waiting to happen. And so it did on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 1942 when a fire rapidly engulfed the establishment in just 15 minutes, killing 492 guests and severely injuring another 166. The Cocoanut Grove fire resulted in important changes in building code fire safety as well as advancements in the treatment of burn victims. And over 70 years on, it also provides some important lessons about the strategies that should accompanying investing in the stock market today.

For investors seeking a high quality, low risk way to hedge their portfolio against a stock market decline, an attractive opportunity is now presenting itself to either establish or build upon such a position. Long-term U.S. Treasuries, which have produced an excellent track record in this regard over the last several years, have endured a tough stretch over the last few days. Following the unbridled stock market euphoria that came with the U.S. economy adding a few more low quality jobs than expected in Friday's jobs report, long-term U.S. Treasuries took it on the chin. Fortunately, this recent pullback has presented an attractive buying opportunity for those investors seeking to hedge their stock allocations.

Over the last four trading days since last Friday, long-term U.S. Treasuries as measured by the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) have declined by -3%. But this pullback represents a modest retracement of the near

"Now times had changed, and the inherited wisdom of the past had become folly."

--Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey

We have now ventured into uncharted territory. On Friday, the S&P 500 index exploded higher and closed above 1600 for the first time since the dawn of man. And apparently all because the April employment report came in better than anticipated due largely to a greater than expected increase in mostly lower quality jobs, never mind the steady stream of disappointing economic reports from around the world that preceded it. This epic move marks the latest step in what continues to be a most peculiar evolution in financial markets where interest rates remain bound at zero, where fundamental and technical decision making has been generally neutered, where machines have replaced humans as the driving market force, where good news is good and bad news is even better and where