The first 2.5 months of the quarter were lackluster for the most part as markets moved quietly and slowly in a positive direction. Maybe most people just wanted to enjoy summer and not worry or even think about the markets. As summer started to wind down, unfortunately Covid-19 did not: cases started to spike again. Also, by mid September investors woke up and found reasons to focus their attention on lingering issues that would teeter the markets: the US debt ceiling expiration and the ability of one of China’s largest real estate developers, Evergrande Group, to pay some hefty interest payments on their debt obligations.