Fiscal Cliff Be Damned: A Card-Carrying Bull for 2013

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The old Wall Street saw goes something like: buy on rumor, sell on news.

Ever since the Fiscal Cliff came into focus during the latter half of 2012, this old chestnut seems to have been perverted into something more like buy on rumor and sell on rumor too. The news part, or facts, seems to have gotten left out of the equation.

Fiscal cliff be damned. I'm a card-carrying bull for 2013. In fact, for the balance of the year, I'm ignoring all "Fiscal Cliff" news and headlines. This isn't just a declaration of independence from the fourth estate. Since I actually run money for the GMG Defensive Beta Fund, it's an actionable strategy.

Here's what's behind going long on equities heading into 2013.

New home construction. Privately owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000. This is 3.6% above the revised September estimate of 863,000 and is 41.9% above the October 2011 rate of 630,000.

We're so focused on housing leading the rest of the economy into the mire that we forget that it can lead the economy to new heights as well. New housing works backward into everything from utilities to durable goods to services.

The outlook remains promising. Building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 866,000, below the September rate of 890,000, but 29.8% above the October 2011 estimate of 667,000 building permits issued.

China. The reports out of the east with China's economy showing deceleration were chilling to the markets during 2012. To me, the whole notion that it has "slowed" to something like 7.5% GDP growth is silly: 7.5% is an awfully big number. If the U.S. economy was growing at this rate, "Helicopter Ben" Bernanke and the rest of the Federal Reserve would be looking for ways to slam the brakes on the economy.

There's something else going on in China that comes to me from Howard Balloch, head of Canaccord Asia, which is the Asian arm of global investment bank Canaccord Genuity.

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