(Click Image to Enlarge/ ETF Rewind Glossary)

The major U.S. indices put in a flat week with the S&P 500 (SPY) finishing higher by just +0.1%.  Notable outliers, including Real Estate (IYR -1.9%), Midcap Growth (PWJ +2.3%) and Agriculture (DBA +2.0%), underscored the low volatility in their slight absolute magnitude.

Interestingly, Agriculture now represents the ten-month relative strength leader, followed closely by Precious Metals (DBP) – but there is no inflation, right?

Week Forty-Four of 2010 features national elections on top of an extremely busy economic reporting calendar, including a Wednesday Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate decision and the monthly Friday Jobs Report, as follows:

October Monthly Summary

October provided an odd and assorted mix of sluggish economic reports, generally strong third quarter earnings, positive low-volatility price action fueled at times by the prospect of further quantitative easing, and yet diverging breadth and momentum.

In the end, nevertheless, the bulls prevailed, leaving the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and NASDAQ 100 cash indices markedly higher on the month by +3.69%, +3.06%, and +6.33%, respectively. This left the three major indices likewise higher on the year by+6.11%, +6.62%, and +14.20%, with style and sector performances provided below:

If you are interested in a significantly more thorough version of this weekly summary, consider taking a look at Market Rewind’s nightly ETF Rewind Pro service. In addition to coverage of over 200 ETFs across twelve major asset classes, you will find three model portfolios, daily market signals and commentary, pairs trading, rotation modeling, and various powerful portfolio management tools.

The Style-Box was calculated using the following PowerSharesâ„¢ ETFs: Small-Growth (PWT), Small-Value (PWY), Mid-Growth (PWJ), Mid-Value (PWP), Large-Growth (PWB), and Large-Value (PWV). The Sector-Ribbon was calculated using the following Select Sector SPDRâ„¢ ETFs: Materials (XLB), Industrials (XLI), Energy (XLE), Staples (XLP), Discretionary (XLY), Financials (XLF), Technology (XLK), and Healthcare (XLV). The Standard & Poors 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ 100 may be traded through ETF proxies, including the SPY or IVV, DIA and QQQQ, respectively.

Never Investment Advice: Prior Summaries

Related posts:

  1. August 2010 Rewind – Give Back
  2. October 2009 Rewind – A Stop in the Road
  3. October 2008 Rewind – The Credit Tsunami
  4. June 2010 Rewind – June Swoon
  5. December 2009 Rewind – Steady Sleighing