Even in a bear market some stocks rise

If you think the market might turn bearish you could have a look at those stocks whose Earnings Per Share are rising faster than the share price (I'm still working on a scan for this)

If that stock is also showing good TA the two sets of facts ought to confirm each other as a buy

Then again doesn't Weinstein say never to trade against the market trend?

Index trading is for those who dont want to be exposed to individual stock risks and rewards

I am sure you know more about how to recognise Index turning points than I do and I would think that sentiment has to outrun fundamentals strongly ... in the form of panic buying prior to a major Index down turn

However, there may well be examples in history where this condition was not met

As a trend follower I would suggest you do not confuse yourself with fundamentals unless you think a group of fundamentals is about to outweigh sentiment and even then sentiment can run counter to fundamentals for weeks or months before the truth kicks in

So while I believe fundamentals ultimately matter most, so does sentiment which can for periods be way out of kilter with fundamentals (eg the dot com boom)

Sentiment can also generate deterioration in fundamentals when fear grips the human mind

As President Roosevelt said "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" but fear can be devastating once mass psychology is gripped by it, just as mass optimism can outweigh fundamentals