Congress got its act together just enough to stave off the fiscal cliff. Unfortunately, they merely added a long “pirate plank” to the edge of the cliff, as spending was not addressed. So the country has stepped off the cliff and now we are “walking the plank,” albeit without the blindfold since we know when the debt ceiling and sequestration are scheduled to kick in. Read more about Sector Detector: Rankings stay defensive despite the relief rally

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a lot of auto-response emails from folks in the investment world who are on vacation these days. Yes, the summer doldrums have set in, often leaving junior portfolio managers—without seniority, vacation time, school-age children, or much in the way of discretionary authority—to mind the store. Read more about Sector Detector: Summer Doldrums Arrive Despite Global Uncertainty

For U.S. equities, ETFs offer a higher percentage (10%) of attractive investment options than mutual funds (1%) at a lower cost. The radically higher number of US equity mutual funds (4,700+) versus ETFs (380+) is not indicative of better stock selection from active management. On the contrary, the vast majority of actively-managed funds do not justify the higher fees they charge. Read more about ETF vs Mutual Funds: The Winner Is…

Stocks Buffeted by Macro Forces

by David Brown, Chief Market Strategist, Sabrient Systems

What does the market want, anyway? I know that's the name of this newsletter, but it's not an easy question to answer in recent months, and especially in the last couple of weeks. Read more about What the Market Wants: Stocks Buffeted by Macro Forces

The market continued to inch ahead today, with the S&P 500 taking another aim at the 18-month high of 1180 which it reached last Thursday before backing off a bit on Friday.  The only thing nudging the market forward seems to be the lack of anything really negative. The economic releases over the past week and today were either at or slightly above projections, and we seemed to have dodged the bullet on a couple of portentous events. Read more about WHAT THE MARKET WANTS: It's a Tortoise, Not a Hare