Huge Tech underweight & big Staples overweight explains much of Dividend Aristocrat shortfall. Such deviations due to DA’s membership rules, but could a virtue if worried about mega-cap Tech correction, or diversifying from heavy positions in that highflying cohort

It appears that investors are no longer content with annual S&P 500 gains of 15-20% and now feel compelled to lever them.

$SPX Materials surged 6% in August; it was the best-performing sector in the index. The few mining stocks still in the index carried the Materials sector higher, with $NEM (+20%) and $FCX (+10%) leading the way.

Mid-September’s highs in the #NYSE A/D Line, $SPX Equal Weighted index, S&P 500 Financials, and our S&P 500 Cyclical sector suggest a traditional topping process has not even started. #BullMarket

Despite the top-heavy nature of market leadership, it’s hard to argue that stocks are now under serious “distribution.”

The problem is not the amount or type of ammunition at the Fed’s disposal (there is always plenty), but rather with its aim. There are no surgical strikes with monetary policy, and the immediate beneficiaries are unlikely to be those the Fed is trying to target.