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Dry bulk shipping stocks took a breather on Wednesday, but there was no slowing the Baltic Dry Index. The sector’s pricing benchmark pushed higher for its ninth straight session after plummeting from late-May through mid-July. At the end of that run, Deutsche Bank analyst Justin Yagerman called a bottom for dry bulk shares after the BDI’s first session in positive territory following those more than 30 trading days in the red. Earlier this week Bloomberg suggested that the shipping sector is bottoming as Chinese steel prices signal iron ore demand.

The recent momentum in stocks continued today, powered by FedEx (FDX) increasing its guidance and solid new home sales data. Suddenly the economic clouds look to be lifting a bit, but we think there will still be a lot of haze on the economic front before the sun finally breaks through. However, valuations for many sectors — tech, healthcare, financials — look attractive, and as we’ve been doing, now is still the time to be in accumulation mode if you have a long view.

The broad domestic benchmarks extended recent gains on Monday, and a handful of Chinese sub-sectors followed suit.

Ask a trader about Chinese equities and one could get either of the following responses. China bulls will tout what they believe to be the country’s early stage of economic development, which given its superpower scale could continue to blossom, sending stocks up in multiples from current valuations. Meanwhile, bears — and there are plenty of them — are calling for a bubble as the government scrambles to curb property speculation while pumping billions of stimulus dollars into expansion.