The third quarter of 2015 was shockingly downbeat for the broader U.S. market and the global indices with the China-led tumult culminating into a bloodbath in August and September. Needless to say, investors will keenly watch the market movement in the fourth quarter.

With the first month of Q4 finally bringing back the strong stretch for the U.S. market, investors must now be hoping for more and seeking to carve out some solid gains. Traditionally, the three months from November through January mark the most successful run of the stock market. A consensus carried out from 1950 to 2014 shows that November ended up offering positive returns in 43 years and negative returns in 22 years, per moneychimp.com (read: Sector ETFs & Stocks for Sweet November Returns).

In fact, all the three major indices are now positive from the year-to-date look with the S&P 500 rising 2.5%, Dow Jones Industrials Average gaining over 0.5% and Nasdaq composite climbing 8.6%. With vacations, holiday season buying and seasonal optimism taking charge, investors might reap more returns to close out 2015.
 
However, before riding on the cyclicality, one should not cast out the presently-hot areas of the global investing arena, which will play the kingmakers in November. This is why we highlight the top financial stories and the related ETFs which should be strongly watched this month.

Fed Rate Lift-off Talks and Rising U.S. Bond Yields

Turning on rounds of hearsay about the lift-off, the Fed brought the December rate hike possibility back on to the table in October end. Yes, the central bank is supportive now, citing a slowing job market, moderating U.S. economic growth and subdued inflation. But it was finally the easing of the upheaval in the global market that led it to mull over policy tightening this year, if possible.

Post Fed meeting at October end, investors rapidly shifted their bets with futures contracts entailing a 52% December hike possibility (at the current level) compared with 34% preceding the statement. In anticipation of a faster lift-off, the 10-year Treasury bond yields jumped 18 bps to 2.23% in six days (as of November 3, 2015) (read: Guard Against Rising Rates with These ETFs).

The rising yields give cues of the fact that though Q3 U.S. economic growth tallied 1.5% in Q3, falling short of the 1.6% expectation, investors are hardly paying heed to the soft GDP data, rather wagering on a sooner-than-expected lift-off.

As a result, sectors benefitting from higher rates showed strength in recent trading. Financial ETFs like SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) and U.S. dollar ETF Powers hares DB US Dollar Bullish Fund (UUP) performed nicely and could be in watch this month.

High Yield Bond ETFs Back into Business