"The call for this week: I am in the San Francisco bay area speaking at various events and seeing accounts. I continue to find it fascinating that the portfolio managers (PMs) want to know what our advisors and their clients are thinking/doing, while our advisors/clients want to know what the PMs are thinking/doing. I believe this speaks to the fact that most are confused with the markets and that 77% of all active PMs are underperforming the S&P 500. This is likely because the surprise of the year has been the tremendous outperformance of the defensive sectors. To wit, Healthcare is up 14.70% YTD and the Utility sector has risen 10.35%. While we targeted Healthcare as a favored sector, we totally missed Utilities. I have also liked Technology, but recently I am hearing from tech companies their business with Russia has fallen off a cliff and I did not realize how big a consumer of U.S. technology Russia has become. This week investors will put on “rabbit ears” for statements out of the Fed meeting. Will Janet Yellen drop the phrase “considerable time?” Will she continue with “data dependent?” Or will she say “the FOMC’s view is that there is considerable slack that remains in place?” Accordingly, all eyes will be on the bond market to see its reaction to the Fed’s words. The other charts worth watching are crude oil, gasoline, and the U.S. Dollar Index. Also of note are Scotland’s independence vote and this week’s option expiration, both of which can be market moving."
The complete commentary is linked below for your reading enjoyment ...
http://www.raymondjames.com/inv_strat.htm
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