DC Lite #113

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1. New home sales. New single-family home sales rose by 8.8% in March to 693k (fastest pace in 6 months) while the supply of new homes for sale rose to the highest (477k) since 2008.

2. Weekly ETF flows. "Over past week, U.S large-cap equity ETFs saw considerable interest with nearly $13 billion in inflows ... conversely, investors fled U.S. small caps and investment grade bonds."

3. Fund manager positioning (I). "Fund managers’ positioning remains cautious – funds’ relative exposure to cyclical vs. defensive sectors, High Beta vs. Low Beta and Value vs. Momentum are all below average."

4. Normal weakness. "Reviewing previous election years that started strong shows that choppy weakness could last until after Memorial Day, but a summer rally is also likely. So, don’t lose faith now."

5. Earnings inflection. “Even as markets fixate on Q1 results, Q2 is the real inflection point for S&P 500 earnings this year.”