The Market Commentary Resource Page

This page contains an annotated set of links to free, high-quality  commentary about the U.S. stock market and economy for investors & traders. To suggest an addition, please leave a comment below.

Market Commentary

• Like many other brokerages, Canadian firm BMO Nesbitt Burns publishes its economic and general market research for free. What often makes this more valuable than others is (1) the Canadian slant (in contrast to the US orientation of many other firms) and (2) the occasional availability of thematic reports. Recently, for example, BMO Nesbitt Burns has published -- and made available for free -- an excellent series of reports on the economic and market impact of an Avian Flu Pandemic.
• Warren Buffett's annual reports and letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders are infrequent but contain his views on the attractiveness of the US stock and bond markets.  They're also an entertaining investment education in themselves, though recently they've become more focused on the insurance industry due to Berkshire Hathaway's ownership of Geico and General RE.
• The China Analyst is Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy's weekly report on the Chinese Internet and technology market. Commentaries are based on data Piper collects daily using staff and consultants in Mainland China and Hong Kong. The report’s goal is to analyze developments in both China and its technology market, and discuss how the two impact both Piper's existing coverage companies and the long-term outlook of the Chinese Internet market. Coverage companies include 51Job (ticker: JOBS), Ctrip.com (ticker: CTRP), Hurray! Holdings (ticker: HRAY), Linktone (ticker: LTON), NetEase (ticker: NTES), Shanda Interactive (ticker: SNDA), Sina.com (ticker: SINA), Sohu.com (ticker: SOHU), and Tom Online (ticker: TOMO).
• Dow Jones provides fundamental data for its global, sector and country indexes.  This allows you to compare trailing and projected PE ratios, price to book ratios, price to sales ratios, price to cash flow ratios and dividend yeilds for the Dow Jones indexes, including the country and global sector indexes.  You can also check the individual country weightings in the global index, useful for comparing a diversified portfolio to its global benchmark.
• Dow Jones' ETF allocator allows you to actively manage a portfolio of sector ETFs plus a total market index.  It's useful for people who want to over-weight or under-weight their exposure to US industry sectors; it's not useful for investors who want to manage portfolio exposure to between broader asset classes such as stocks, bonds and REITs, or domestic and foreign assets.  It also won't help those looking to actively manage their US stock allocation by market cap and value/growth rather than sector exposure.
• GloomBoomDoom is the web site of Marc Faber, an advisor to several emerging market stock funds and a well regarded expert in emerging market stocks.  He provides a free essay on emerging markets in the Market Comments section of the web site.  It appears at somewhat erratic intervals.
• Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC [GMO] focuses on asset allocation between US, developed international and emerging markets fixed income and equities. The research section of the GMO web site contains quarterly commentary that include discussion of valuation and outlook for asset classes.
• Hussman Funds' Strategic Growth Fund is a mutual fund with a strong track record that uses hedging to vary net exposure, depending on fund manager John Hussman's view of the US stock market.  His weekly Market Comment discusses the US stock and bond markets based on valuation and technical analysis.
• Jonathan Fuerbringer's Portfolios, Etc. column (free subscription required) is the gem of the New York Times' Sunday Business section. It's totally lacking in sensationalism or "newsiness", and assumes reasonable doses of intelligence and sophistication from its readers. Mr Fuerbringer covers the stock, bond and currency markets, portfolio theory, and research methodolology. The column often cites (and sources) academic research but remains highly topical and relevant. It's also succinct and clearly written.
• Paul Kasriel is Director of Economic Research for The Northern Trust Company.  He publishes a weekly essay that's available for free to the general public.  The essays are published in a section called United States Positive Economic Commentary; curious, given the pessimistic nature of Kasriel's recent comments.  He's particularly good on household debt and consumer spending, and the implications of the budget and trade deficits.  Unlike many other economists, Kasriel traces the implications of his analysis for individual equity sectors.
• Michael Mauboussin is Chief Investment Strategist for Legg Mason Funds.  His short piece on the principles of successful fund management is rather general, but its presentation of fund management as a probabilistic field and the resuling analysis makes it required reading for portfolio managers.
• Legg Mason's Bill Miller is one of the few large-cap US mutual fund managers who has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 index.  (Like Buffett, he nonetheless advocates indexing for most investors.) He publishes quarterly comments on the market, and his market comments in the Legg Mason Value Trust's annual report are also worth reading.  Like Buffett's letters, the Value Trust annual report contains valuable insights about investing generally.  You can also check the current top holdings of the Legg Mason Value Trust.
• John Makin is a principal with hedge fund manager Caxton Associates.  He writes the monthly Economic Outlook for the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (the AEI) that discusses the outlook for the US economy.
• Morgan Stanley offers free access to current commentary by its economists, including a weekly essay by chief economist Steve Roach.
• The Oakmark Fund Family's leading funds are managed by Bill Nygren, a value investor with a strong track record and following.  The website contains the funds' top holdings, letters to shareholders, and commentary and speeches by Nygren. Nygren comments on the attractiveness of the market and his ability to find value stocks.
• Pimco's Bill Gross publishes his opinionated and entertaining Investment Outlook at the start of each month. Bill Gross manages the largest US bond fund, and his commentary on the bond market is required reading for active bond managers and investors wishing to tactically alter their allocation to bonds based on market conditions rather than an automatic rebalancing rule.  No registration or log-in required; you can sign up to have a link to the Investment Outlook automatically emailed to you on publication.
• Jeffrey Saut is market strategist for sell-side firm Raymond James.  He started his career as a desk trader, then became a research analyst, and has been "managing director of investment strategy" for Raymond James since 1999.  Perhaps due to his trader beginnings, Saut pays more attention to technical (chart) considerations than many other strategists, and his writing is pithier and less formal.  His Investment Strategy essay is published once a week and is available here for free.
• Thoughts From the Frontline is a weekly newsletter written by John Mauldin,  president of investment advisory firm and commodity trading advisor Millennium Wave Advisors. Mauldin focuses on the economy and markets, and often summarizes and discusses the views of other commentators and newsletters.  The website also contains an archive of past issues.
• Dr. Ed Yardeni was Prudential's chief market strategist. He provides free access to his Investment Strategy Weekly (an essay), his monthly Strategist's Handbook, a monthly Technology Handbook, and a large amount of US and global economic and financial data.