Sin Stocks & Consumer Staples

That's the recipe for success in this downturn, according to a panel of investment pros put together by Forbes to review portfolio strategies in these troubling times. The story takes a look at a range of investments, including exchange-traded funds.

You can read the story here. 

XLF Gets Hammered In Market's Reaction To Geithner

This Barron's update notes that the Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLF) got hammered on Tuesday as investors gave a big thumbs-down to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. 

The article also mentions a column by a Dow Jones Newswires  writer about the speech. Not to toot one's own horn, but you might also be interested in our own Paul Amery's take on the whole affair. He's managing editor of IndexUniverse's European site and his views from the other side of the pond are quite revealing. 

You can read the Barron's story here. Paul's blog is here.

Fund Companies Going For Absolute Returns

David Hoffman at Investment News takes a look at how fund companies are focusing these days on absolute, rather than relative, returns.

You can read the story here.