The ETF business: another strong year. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are continuing to rake in money, according to Matt Hougan, President of ETF Analytics at IndexUniverse, who is cosponsoring the Inside ETFs Trading Conference at the NYSE today.
Total ETF Assets exceed $1.3 trillion, up 25 percent from last year, Hougan tells me. And ETF stock funds continue to attract investment, despite the indifference of U.S. investors to stocks.
Here's the main stat:
U.S. Stocks Flows (2012)
Source: IndexUniverse
That's right: money keeps coming out of stock mutual funds, but there are still inflows into equity ETFs.
Why? Because active management doesn't work well in the equity space, Hougan tells me. There are no superstars remaining in it. If indexing makes more sense, than ETFs are the low-cost providers.
What about bond funds? Money keeps rolling in to both mutual funds and ETFs:
Taxable Bonds: Money Rolling In (2012)
No signs of that bubble bursting-yet.
What about ETFs and the "fiscal cliff?" Hougan insists that ETFs have benefited from the concern over higher taxes. Tax rates are going up, particularly on capital gains and ETFs are a more tax efficient vehicle than mutual funds.
We are also seeing tax gain selling to lock in lower tax rates this year; that means more money that is "trapped" in mutual funds can be "liberated" and redeployed elsewhere.
What's hot in ETFs for 2013?
Hougan is watching money move into international debt. One fund he watches: Market Vector Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond (EMLC), which invests in emerging market bonds in local currency.
How about the quest for dividends, so hot earlier this year? Hougan says it's still hot, with money going into the Global X SuperDividend ETF (SDIV), which invests in the 100 highest dividend paying securities in the world, market-cap weighted. Current yield: 7.5 percent.
(Read More: Why BofA Thinks Stocks Will Hit New High in 2013
Many traders now believe that the constant stream of Trump tweets on positive trade negotiations is no longer having the magical effect it had weeks ago.
The agency tasked with clearing and settlement for the financial markets is warning that "pockets of weakness" are starting to emerge across the financial system.
On Monday, the S&P opened up, then drifted lower and moved into negative territory less than 20 minutes later.
Investors underestimated the destabilizing effect of the Trump administration's trade policies, which J. P. Morgan says may have erased 10 percent off the S&P 500.
A CNBC reporter since 1990, Bob Pisani covers Wall Street from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
The bond market sees storm clouds on the horizon, despite the trade ceasefire between President Donald Trump and China.
Top J.P. Morgan Chase strategist Marko Kolanovic doubled down on his bullish market call Monday given "significant" progress in trade deliberations and Fed policy.
There is a pretty good chance stocks will be higher in a year's time as positive sentiment has moderated and earnings growth will likely remain strong, says Citi's Tobias Levkovich.
Data also provided by 
