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…

Anytime is a good time to consider adding dividend paying stocks to a portfolio and especially now with the market breaking the S&P 1040 technical support levels. Without short side protection this means less return derived from capital gains. So instead of feeling like Sisyphus and breaking through the DOW 10,000 mark {How many times?}, it might help to purchase value stocks with  dividends to lock in gains through accumulation of cash. Read more about Rock Solid Yield: Sisyphus could have used a backstop like Dividend Stocks.