@willmatt72: Look at these.
Regards,
Ted
Mid-Cap Growth:
http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/rankings/mid-cap-growth?int=959608
Mid-Cap Value:
http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/rankings/mid-cap-value

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/05/27/dennis-gartman-we-were-wrong-calling-for-a-correction/tab/print/

UMBMX has actually been pretty tame (on the downside) for an equity fund since its inception, while more than doubling SP500 total returns...I'd consider it better than "half decent":

@Ted, re leverage, if you can't hunt with the big dogs, stay on the porch. :-)
My leveraged funds - QLD 2.52% (8.1% up since purchase), GLL 4.30% today.

For all the Bulls,two scoops instead of three.After all,Hogs are known to get slaughtered.
From Seeking Alpha
Direxion will launch a 2X leveraged ETF tomorrow
May 27 2014, 16:55 ET
Direxion has updated its filing on the Daily S&P 500 Bull 2X Shares (SPUU) and plans to roll out the fund on May 28th.
Originally planned as the Direxion Daily Large Cap Bull 2X Shares with the proposed ticker of SFVL, SPUU will now track double the returns of the S&P 500.
The issuer is probably best know for its 3X leverage offerings and SPUU will be the first of its ETFs to offer 2X exposure.
ETFs tracking the S&P 500: SPY, SH, SSO, SDS, VOO, IVV, SPXU, UPRO, SPXL, RSP, RWL, EPS, BXUB, SFLA, SPLX, BXUC
http://seekingalpha.com/news/1772243-direxion-will-launch-a-2x-leveraged-etf-tomorrow?uprof=46
Speaking of slaughter, my precious metal holdings down 3-6 % today. Tocqueville Gold Fund 37.61
- $1.33
-3.42%

@Charles: I'm more confident that ever that the S&P 500 will be up 15% from it's 2013 close of 1842 at year-end.
Regards,
Ted

Ha!
And BAC had a good day too...back above $15...let's hope to stay!
Thanks Ted.

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303403604579587750901936202#printMode
Major Stock Indexes: http://markets.wsj.com/us

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/05/27/laszlo-birinyi-sp-500-to-1970-this-year/tab/print/

VXF is your best choice for both.
Suitability
Vanguard Extended Market Index ETF is a suitable core holding for investors who want to complement a U.S. large-cap equities allocation with exposure to mid-cap, small-cap, and micro-cap stocks. This exchange-traded fund tracks the S&P Completion Index, which holds nearly the entire U.S. market, except for those stocks already in the S&P 500 Index. Its constituent companies are widely diversified across sectors and the value-growth spectrum. For those looking to control their market-cap exposure, this fund works well with an S&P 500 Index fund such as Vanguard S&P 500 ETF to cover the range of U.S. stock market capitalizations with minimal holdings overlap.

@Kaspa - I'm trying to think of any reason(s) for investing in HDV. However, it concerns me when this portfolio pays out a dividend of only 3.06% while 17 of their top 25 holdings yield more than, or equal to in one instance, that on their own. 7 of the 25 are a full percentage point or more above the combined stated yield with 3 of those contained within their top ten holdings.
Granted, there's an advantage to monitoring only one holding and you only have one set of transaction costs versus 25 so that helps. You also get some diversification across sectors but where is the rest of the yield going? I also think that the ER could be cut at least by half and they'd still do alright.

No arguments. "Our favorite emerging-markets debt fund is Fidelity New Markets Income (FNMIX)--- a member of the Kiplinger 25. Longtime manager John Carlson focuses on dollar-denominated debt, a more stable way to invest in these securities because foreign currencies tend to be volatile. Over the past decade, New Markets Income returned 9.2% annualized, beating its typical peer by an average of 1.2 percentage points a year."
Yet, PREMX beats FNMIX by a nose over 10 years, 9.2% (FNMIX) vs. 9.88% for PREMX.

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.businessinsider.com/pimco-re-hires-paul-mcculley-2014-5

In allocating among funds, look not only at returns over 5-10 year periods, but equally importantly, look at the specific holdings within a fund.
Regards, FWIW

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dividend-yielding-stocks-are-paying-off-now-2014-05-27/print?guid=04375C14-E2BE-11E3-AEFD-00212803FAD6

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20140526/FREE/140529951?template=printart

Sideways may be better than going down but markets usually don't go sideways for too long.
Seems to me, the sentiments for 2014 are very similar to 2010 after the big 2009 pop. Also a mid-election year.
People were expecting a correction and there was a mid-year swoon. Everybody rushed in to capitalize on the correction and the year ended up reasonably high. Punished those that stayed out of the market, afraid of the correction. The euphoria continued into 2011 when we got the bigger correction that people weren't expecting. The markets were flat that year in annual returns.
The same story might repeat in 2014/15 if there aren't significant events.
Sideways was a very good movie. Not as multi-dimensional as The Big Chill, but not as mind numbingly self-absorbed as My Dinner with Andre or any Woody Allen movie. Not for people who like more bullets than words in a movie.
Reference to that movie in the article just because of the title seems as relevant (or not!) to the article as Ted's video linking here. :-)

It depends on whether you believe the marble will (be manipulated to) come to rest on black or red (oh, and just as a reminder, a belief is a religious feeling). :)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-26/first-germany-now-austria-demands-audit-its-offshore-held-gold

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/05/26/sideways-might-not-be-so-bad-for-the-markets/tab/print/