Finally something Matt Hougan and I can agree on...

I can't believe it, but Matt and I are actually on the same page. Just when you felt like there was no other ETF launch that could come out and feel like it hit the spot ... I'm always a bit embarrassed when I'm a market-timer, but in this instance, I really am one. I'm an indexer at heart, but deep down inside, I'm a contrarian. So I love the current market environment as an investor, because it makes me feel good about my rebalancing, and it allows me to do a bit of activist work on the fringes.

And I LOVE this PowerShares launch. I really do. I am almost ashamed to admit it as an index investor, but I absolutely agree with Bruce Bond's quote that the mortgage-backed securities market is oversold and likely near its bottom. Now the question is, will I, like Hougan, plow some money into the PowerShares funds (which he did into one of the flagships a few years ago just as it reverted to its mean)? I just might. 

Goodness knows I bought some XLF, and it honestly feels to me like real estate, and this "toxic debt" may well be closer to its bottom than Financials. For the most part, people are still paying their mortgages, and a lot of this repackaged debt was sold off at what I might call "panic prices."

So yeah, SWEET launch. those PowerShares guys keep cranking them out. And I may be in at my broker's on Monday. Please don't tell Jack Bogle. These things are sort of like late-night chocolates when you're on a diet.