It is quite clear that the market wants good reports from the earnings announcements that begin this week. We make that judgment based on Friday’s weak close, despite a solid week of some of best economic news of the year that culminated with the drop in unemployment to 7.8% from the expected 8.2%. Read more about What the Market Wants: Fasten Your Money Belts

Its earnings season again!  Q2 results began today with a so-so report from Alcoa (AA), but they will end the week with much awaited reports from JP Morgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).  To be fair, the market began the week on the tail end of a trio of bad stories, a not-so-dynamic duo of emerging stories from the banking sector, and a single focus on the upcoming election. Read more about What the Market Wants: A Rare Big Zero, a Whale Trade and Unspeakable Fears

It is fairly clear that what the market wants is a solution, or more likely, an entire truckload of solutions, to the issues that have polarized the globe. I hope you’ve noticed that the market passionately hates uncertainty!  The market’s behavior of the last few weeks speaks to this attitude. Read more about What The Market Wants: A Solution, Any Solution

Here we are again wondering what the market wants.  Today, it clearly wasn’t Technology stocks, as various issues dragged both Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) lower. Read more about What the Market Wants: Technology Stocks Under Siege

After last week’s technical breakout on elevated volume, stocks have flattened and trading volume has waned as investors seem to be waiting to see whether there will be a pullback to test new support levels and the bulls’ conviction. I think the bulls are plenty convicted—not conflicted. Read more about Sector Detector: Awaiting the next catalyst

Read more about Sector Detector: Another technical breakout as bulls build their army

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…

Market Surges to 2-Month High--Why?

By David Brown, Chief Market Strategist, Sabrient Systems Read more about What the Market Wants: Market Surges to 2-Month High--Why?

Read more about Sector Detector: Renewed worries about the same old topics