This page shows the progression of the U.S. economic cycle based on the behavior of key economic variables going back to the 1970s. From current U.S. data, it looks like we have entered the contraction stage of the economic cycle. Based on the historical performance of asset classes during the different economic regimes, one can see that Asia ex-Japan and Chinese equities can still deliver positive returns on average even during contractionary periods, although investors should prepare for increased volatility.