The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that the S&P/TSX Composite Index and S&P 500 Index surged to record highs last week -- but investors should remember the big picture. The Globe's Ian McGugan writes that the market's returns over the past five years have been historically unusual. The S&P 500 has produced a total return of 16 per cent a year since 2021 in Canadian-dollar terms. The Toronto Stock Exchange has also delivered outstanding results, churning out more than 15 per cent a year. The folks at Capital Economics expect a "major downturn" next year. Among the defensive measures are fixed-income options that stack up well compared with dividends, among them the balanced portfolios offered by Vanguard Canada and iShares. These funds offer automatically rebalanced mixes of 60 per cent globally diversified stocks and 40 per cent bonds. They are low-cost, no-fuss ways of tilting toward caution. Folks who want to stick to stocks only might want to consider the Avantis CIBC All-Equity Asset Allocation ETF. It's a globally diversified portfolio of stocks selected according to a strict bythe-numbers research approach. Buying shares in Berkshire Hathaway is also a good defensive move.