Sector Rotation and Other Views to Start the Week

*  The above chart from FinViz nicely illustrates that returns from U.S. stocks over the last six months have highly depended upon the sectors you've been invested in.  While it doesn't seem as though the overall averages have moved very far in recent months, there is considerable sector rotation below the surface.  Interest-rate sensitive shares, commodity-related stocks, and shares of international companies adversely impacted by a strong U.S. dollar have been among the laggards.  Healthcare and growth-related shares have been relative leaders.

*  Directly training the brain may be the most efficient and effective way to make and sustain changes in our trading psychology.  This is an area of tremendous promise.

*  In that vein, it appears that neurofeedback--monitoring and controlling one's brain waves--can be useful in attention training. It's an area I'll be personally exploring in coming months.

*  Promising frontier markets and other interesting podcasts from the week from Abnormal Returns.

*  Traders are drawn to the hard competition of markets, but it's softer traits that seem to account for trading success.

*  Three-part interview with Steve Spencer of SMB on trading success.

*  Why momentum works in trading systems: an interview with Gary Antonacci.

*  Eye-opening charts from Meb Faber, including a look at current margin debt.

Have a great start to the week!

Brett