The markets this month have been especially boring- that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Remember that the market as measured by the S&P 500 has rallied more than 50% since March lows.
Through last night, the Dow was ahead .42%, the Nasdaq .80% and the S&P 500 better by .82%. Given the futures indicating a modestly lower opening in about an hour, its possible that by the end of the day these market measures could be flat.
We have seen a move to health care and consumer non-durables this month. Johnson & Johnson (+2.4%), Pepsi (3.2%), Diageo (2.9%), Baxter (2.6%) and Verizon (5.7%) all have outperformed the market. We see this as a gentle shifting away from the more economically sensitive companies mainly because those have been the best performers from the market bottom.
Our advice is to remain diversified both in the stock market as well as by adding some fixed income to your portfolio.