What Investors Were Researching in May

The market kept its upward momentum going in May. The broad-based, Morningstar U.S. Market Index was up 2.3% over the last four weeks, and is now up a remarkable 15% so far this year.

The big story in the U.S. last month was talk about when the Fed would begin to taper its current round of bond purchases. Testimony from Chairman Bernanke in front of Congress, minutes from the recent FOMC meeting, and speeches by a number of Fed members revealed that the Fed is seriously talking about when it will be appropriate to reduce its purchases of mortgage-backed securities.

The big question hanging over the market was timing. Some members think it could be time to start tapering as early as June, while others are willing to wait until the economic recovery gains more traction or until inflation becomes a problem. Despite some wobbles, the stock market seems to have mostly shrugged off these concerns assuming that the Fed either won't aggressively tighten until the economy is stronger or the central bank will quickly ramp up purchases again if the tapering leads to an exodus from risk assets.

Japan remained a hot topic in the month, too. Encouraging GDP data in the middle of the month boosted hopes that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to reinflate the economy through aggressive monetary and fiscal policy (Abenomics) was starting to work. However, by the end of the month there were a number of big sell-offs in Japanese stocks as the market worried about the long-term effectiveness and impact of Abenomics. Even with the wild swings in the Nikkei, the index was down only slightly over the last month and is up over 60% over the last year.

Against this backdrop, what were investors checking out on Morningstar.com during the month? Below are the 25 most viewed stock, mutual fund, and exchange-traded fund reports in May.

Most Viewed Stock Analyst Reports in May 2013
Name	Ticker	Moat	Star Rating	May Return
Cisco	CSCO	Wide		15%
Berkshire Hathaway	BRK.B	Wide		7%
Exelon	EXC	Wide		-1%
Baxter Intl	BAX	Wide		1%
General Electric	GE	Wide		15%
Apple	AAPL	Narrow		2%
Intel	INTC	Wide		5%
National Oilwell Varco	NOV	Wide		8%
Rio Tinto	RIO	Narrow		-7%
CH Robinson	CHRW	Wide		12%
Facebook	FB	Wide		-12%
Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	Wide		2%
Pfizer	PFE	Wide		-6%
Schnitzer Steel	SCHN	None		1%
Praxair	PX	Wide		0%
Procter & Gamble	PG	Wide		0%
Chesapeake Energy	CHK	Narrow		-5%
Coca-Cola	KO	Wide		0%
Microsoft	MSFT	Wide		6%
Wells Fargo	WFC	Narrow		8%
Devon Energy	DVN	Narrow		-6%
Ford	F	None		-16%
Ultra Petroleum	UPL	Narrow		6%
Bank of America	BAC	Narrow		11%
Energy Xfer Partners	ETP	Narrow		3%
Source: Morningstar

Apple got tipped off its most-researched perch this month by another tech-giant, Cisco . Cisco reported solid quarterly results in the month, bucking the trend of some tech companies earlier in earnings season posting disappointing numbers. Berkshire Hathaway moved into the top 25 last month, likely boosted by the firm's widely followed annual meeting at the beginning of the month and the purchase of NV Energy at the end of May.

Most Viewed Open-End Fund Analyst Reports in May 2013
Name	Ticker	Morningstar Category	Star Rating	May Return
Vanguard Div Growth	VDIGX	Large Blend		1%
Yacktman	YACKX	Large Blend		2%
Vanguard Wellington	VWELX	Mod Allocation		1%
Vanguard Cap Opp	VHCOX	Large Growth		3%
Fidelity Flt Rt High Inc	FFRHX	Bank Loan		0%
PRIMECAP Odsy Ag Gr	POAGX	Mid-Cap Growth		6%
Oakmark Intl	OAKIX	Foreign Lg Blend		2%
Sequoia	SEQUX	Large Blend		5%
Vanguard Wellsly Inc	VWINX	Cons Allocation		-1%
Matthews Asia Div	MAPIX	Div Pac/Asia		-3%
Met West Ttl Rtn Bnd	MWTRX	Interm-Term Bond		-1%
Vanguard PCAP Core	VPCCX	Large Growth		3%
PRIMECAP Odsy Stock	POSKX	Large Blend		2%
Dodge & Cox Income	DODIX	Interm-Term Bond		-1%
Wasatch Small Cap Gr	WAAEX	Small Growth		4%
PRIMECAP Odyssey Gr	POGRX	Large Growth		2%
Templeton Glbl Bond	TPINX	World Bond		-2%
T. Rowe Cap Apprec	PRWCX	Mod Allocation		1%
T. Rowe New Amer Gr	PRWAX	Large Growth		2%
Fidelity New Mkts Inc	FNMIX	Emer Mrkt Bnd		-4%
Fidelity Contrafund	FCNTX	Large Growth		2%
T Rowe Health Sci	PRHSX	Health		3%
Dodge & Cox Stock	DODWX	World Stock		2%
PIMCO Total Return	PTTRX	Interm-Term Bond		-2%
Yacktman Focused	YAFFX	Large Blend		2%
Source: Morningstar

There weren't many major changes on the most-researched open-end fund list this month. Vanguard Dividend Growth landed on top as investors continued their search for yield. There was also continued interest in less traditional fixed-income products like bank-loan fund Fidelity Floating Rate High Income , and global-bond funds like Templeton Global Bond and Fidelity New Markets Income .

Most Viewed ETF Analyst Reports in May 2013
Name	Ticker	May Return
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation	VIG	1%
WisdomTree Emerging Mrkts	DEM	-3%
Vanguard REIT Index ETF	VNQ	-6%
Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF	VEU	-3%
SPDR S&P Dividend	SDY	0%
iShares MSCI Emerging Mkt Min Vol	EEMV	-3%
PIMCO Total Return ETF	BOND	-2%
WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity	DXJ	-1%
ALPS Alerian MLP ETF	AMLP	-1%
PowerShares Senior Loan Port	BKLN	0%
PowerShares Intl Div Achievers	PID	-2%
Vanguard Energy ETF	VDE	3%
Vanguard Global Ex-US Real Estate	VNQI	-9%
Vanguard High Div Yield Index	VYM	1%
WisdomTree Emrg Mkts Sml Cap Div	DGS	-2%
JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index	AMJ	-1%
Vanguard Total Stock Market	VTI	2%
iShares DJ Intl Select Div	IDV	-6%
iShares MSCI USA Min Vol	USMV	-2%
Vanguard Consumer Spls	VDC	-2%
iShares MSCI Japan	EWJ	-6%
Vanguard Short-Term Bond	BSV	0%
PowerShares S&P 500 Low Vol	SPLV	-3%
SPDR Gold Shares	GLD	-5%
UBS E-TRACS Alerian MLP Infra	MLPI	-1%
Source: Morningstar

A similar story is told in the most-researched ETFs in May: income, be it from dividend funds (like Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF ), real estate ( Vanguard REIT Index ETF ), or MLPs ( ALPS Alerian MLP ETF ). The wild swings in the Japanese market seem to have lifted WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity into the most researched list last month.

All Data as of May 31.