Update on Market Positioning

We are NET MARKET POSITIVE on all three of the time frames we measure.  We last updated this positioning when we moved our short term views higher back on May 24, 2012.  The market as measured by the S&P 500 is down about 2.6% since that time.  You can go here  for a definition of what these terms mean. Please remember that these positioning reflect what we are doing for our clients and are not meant to be any sort of market timing mechanism.

We have put quite a bit of client money to work this week.  The article we published earlier today details the underlying reasoning for our doing this.  These metrics indicate to us as we consult both our playbook and game plan that current price levels are a lower risk environment for those looking out 6-12 months.  

Stocks have opened up sharply higher today.  I do not know if this rally will hold or if it is a tease before we head further south.  I do think that at a minimum prices are due for some sort of snap back even if we end up lower at some point later this summer.  We will have the defensive pages of the playbook at the ready just in case we are wrong with our analysis or this is just a reflex rally in a bear market.  But given the levels we've reached and the valuation discounts we see, stocks are attractive relative to almost any other investment out there and we have acted accordingly.

Our interests have primarily been in yield and in certain other major index ETFs where we believe we are currently under invested.

*Long ETFs related to the S&P 500 in client and personal accounts.