The extreme market sell-off has spared few stocks or sectors. Even traditional defensive groups such as gold have taken their knocks. I will provide a detailed analysis of the current environment and my outlook in this week’s issue of PF Weekly. But I wanted to send you this flash alert with the broad outlines of my analys

I don’t see many fundamental catalysts or changes in the outlook to justify the recent broader market move. The economic soft patch is certainly not new information and economic data has been disappointing expectations since April.

In fact, data released over the past few days suggests the US may be emerging from its recent phase of economic gloom. The July Employment Report released Friday was stronger-than-expected in every regard, as was the initial jobless claims data on Thursday. Acceleration in manufacturing jobs growth apparent in July suggests the manufacturing economy may be bottoming out–the weak Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index report released Monday could mark the low for the year.

The European credit crisis remains a cause for concern, particularly the spike in Italian bond yields. But Rome has reacted by accelerating austerity measures to shore up confidence. Meanwhile the European Central Bank stands ready to support the Italian bond market if needed to ensure market access.

The sell-off looks like a classic panic-driven summer shakeout and selling crescendo exacerbated by the slow summertime trading environment. The good news is it’s an outstanding opportunity to buy into our recommendations at attractive valuations.

Conservative income-oriented stocks such as Linn Energy (NSDQ: LINE), Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) and Seadrill (NSDQ: SDRL) are particularly compelling values in the current environment. All of these stocks have little or no exposure to commodity prices or global economic conditions. Nevertheless, these stocks have been hit hard in sympathy with broader market averages. Buying these names now allows you to lock in yields that are 2 or 3 percent higher they were just one week ago.