No more star managers?

A recent Morningstar report (subscription required) makes the case that the era of star fund mangers may be over. Janus, for example, just replaced star manager David Corkins with two new managers, Morningstar said. And Fidelity announced that a lineup of managers will run some new funds, the fund researcher said. It all points to a “growing trend” toward multiple managers.

Hot buys today

Hot sectors and styles are now buying opportunities. I bought ETFs: FXI, EWY, JKE, IXP, IYM today. (Also bought JKE, QQQQ last Friday) EPP, EFA, IGE, and some other attractive ETFs are also at or below 50-day moving average lines after correcting the past several days. IWD (large value) is rebounding, as some of the banks recover. But my view continues to be that investors should look to offload value and smaller caps in the next few days, and continue a shift toward foreign and large cap growth.

Update: All sectors and styles closed near lows today—a sign of further weakness. Look for more buying opportunities. One worry: my style and sector picks are creating a portfolio heavy in U.S. tech and foreign stocks, particularly Asia and emerging markets. If we're in a bear market, this could get rough. TLT, the T-bond ETF, has a relative strength in the high 60's (Investors Business Daily), and might not be a bad choice for diversification assuming continued flight to quality. Bonds look to be in an uptrend.

E*Trade: Better late than never

WSJ says E-Trade Cut To Hold From Buy By Sandler O'Neill. And in a separate story, the paper notes ETFC has dropped by half this a.m. Quotes a Citi report that E*Trade could face bankruptcy from CDO and loan losses.

Better late than never for a downgrade, I guess. But E*Trade has been heading south for months. Don't analysts ever look at a chart?