U.S. Economy And The November Election: The Importance Of Being The Incumbent

Parsimony Investment Research submits:If you have been following my posts the past few weeks, you'll know that I am a big believer in sector rotation strategies for domestic equity exposure. We are in the middle of a defensive shift that I believe is signaling a market top (Is Sector Rotation Signaling a Market Top?).

MyPlanIQ submits:MyPlanIQ tracks detailed weekly U.S. sectors trend movements. We use ETFs that represent each sector and present the results here. More details can be found in MyPlanIQ 360 Degree Market View. Energy (XLE), Materials (XLB), and Industrials (XLI) remain as the top three sectors this week.

By MyPlanIQ:U.S. stock market rose 0.87% for the week (Vanguard total stock market ETF VTI). S&P 500 is again sitting at around 1250 line (1255 to be exact). With markets swinging back and forth, it is important to look at the market internals.

By Richard Shaw (QVM Group): This table shows the best and worst three-month, one-year and three-year total return, the trailing yield, and the standard deviation, mean return and Sharpe Ratio for three years, five years and 10 years for ETFs that are proxies for the S&P 500 and nine sectors.

Gary Gordon submits: Analysts like Bob Doll at Blackrock believe that U.S. economic growth will accelerate, with GDP likely to come in at a vibrant 3.5% for 2011. Economists polled at the Economist Intelligence Unit may be a little less enthusiastic, but they have raised their forecasts from 3.0% to 3.1%.

Michael Johnston submits:Recent weeks have highlighted the “new normal” in the investing world, as concerns of a debt crisis in Europe have rippled throughout the global economy. On Wall Street, developments in the streets of Athens and the German Bundestag have trumped more local economic indicators, as U.S. markets have taken their cues from across the pond in recent weeks.

By Plan B Economics:Since the March 2009 bottom of the bear market, broad stock indices such as the S&P 500 (SPY) have risen significantly. This was driven primarily by a massive earnings recovery, with S&P 500 earnings rising by about as much as the index itself. Dig beneath the broad index, however, and you will see that some sectors within the S&P 500 have significantly lagged their earnings growth, presenting a potential opportunity.

By Diffusion:Our latest check shows that it’s time to buy the energy sector (XLE). We also suggest selling short the utilities sector (XLU) for investors who can hold short positions.