Stocks enjoyed their best week in more than year as they snapped back from the recent sell-off. The top performer was the Nasdaq, which gained 5.24 percent. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 4.12 and 3.14 percent, respectively. The Russell 2000 also was up strongly, increasing 3.37 percent.

A diversity of sectors broke out to new highs. SPDR Utilities (XLU) pushed to a new intraday 52-week high on Friday. The sector rallied during the sell-off, but didn’t retreat when the rebound started. The sector is benefiting from lower bond yields, and some investors still nervous following the sell-off may be hanging on to their utility shares.

Also breaking out to new highs were biotechnology ETFs. First Trust Biotechnology (FBT) and iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) climbed to new all-time highs, while SPDR Biotech (XBI) and Fidelity Select Biotechnology (FBIOX) are both very close to new records.

Also pushing to a new all-time high is Apple (AAPL). Sales of the company’s iPhones helped the firm beat analyst earnings expectations for the quarter.

The strong performance by these varied sectors is a giant thorn in the side of the bears. Breakouts are associated with bull markets and when the leading stocks and sectors are pushing higher, it signals more upside opportunities are present. There still could be some selling ahead, but the moves will be only temporary. The activity in the market over the past several weeks appears to be a consolidation before the next move higher for the major indexes.

Economic data was generally positive this week. The flash manufacturing PMI for October slowed, but is still signaling an expansion in the sector. New home sales climbed to their highest level in six years.

This week’s rally in stocks also came amid some disappointing earnings, and the market did react negatively. IBM, Coca-Cola (KO), Amazon (AMZN), and McDonald’s (MCD) all missed estimates. This was a flip from earlier in the earnings season, when the financial sector reported very strong results, but the overall market was caught in a wave of selling. This shows how psychology often dominates the market in the short-run. Another example was the newest case of Ebola in New York, which sent stocks lower overnight, before recovering in the morning.

Defensive ETF Results

A Seeking Alpha Contribution

On September 3, in Playing Defense With ETFs, we looked at some funds that could be used for playing defense against a market decline. Several funds were discussed, including Guggenheim Defensive Equity (NYSEARCA:DEF), SPDR Healthcare Select Sect ETF (NYSEARCA:XLV), PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund (NYSEARCA:UUP), SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD), iShares 7-10 Year Treasury (NYSEARCA:IEF) and iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury (NYSEARCA:TLT)…. To Continue Reading Please Click Here.

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The Vanguard High Dividend ETF Doesn’t Play Well With Bears

A Seeking Alpha Contribution

Dividend ETFs are more popular than ever, thanks to the central banks of the world giving us zero interest rate policies (ZIRP), but the word “dividend” in an ETF means different things in different funds. Some funds target very high-yields, such as Global X SuperDividend ETF (NYSEARCA:SDIV), but others such as Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEARCA:VIG) aim for growth, while WisdomTree has an entire lineup of ETFs that use dividends as a selection factor in their indexes. Investors benefit from having a wide range of choices among dividend funds, with sector and international exposure sliced and diced in many different ways. Picking the right fund for a portfolio can be a chore, though, since investors can dig through dozens of options… To Continue Reading, Please Click Here.

*Please note, this article was written and published as a contribution for Seeking Alpha. To finish reading the article you will be redirected to their site.