Despite ongoing worry about the risk of a big correction, the market is having quite a good year. The S&P 500 is up about 10%, and the financial media is packed with reports about high-profile takeovers, major initial public offerings and soaring tech and biotech stocks. So investors may be shocked to hear which sector is leading the pack in 2014 — and by a sizeable margin. In fact, the sector is up around 15% year-to-date, placing it more than 4% ahead of the highly-publicized tech sector and even a tad out in front of the red-hot biotech… Read More
Despite ongoing worry about the risk of a big correction, the market is having quite a good year. The S&P 500 is up about 10%, and the financial media is packed with reports about high-profile takeovers, major initial public offerings and soaring tech and biotech stocks. So investors may be shocked to hear which sector is leading the pack in 2014 — and by a sizeable margin. In fact, the sector is up around 15% year-to-date, placing it more than 4% ahead of the highly-publicized tech sector and even a tad out in front of the red-hot biotech industry. Some other sectors aren’t even in the same ballpark as utilities. This outperformance is a surprise, considering the negative sentiment toward utilities at the start of the year. At that point, many analysts expected the sector to underperform because of a greater risk appetite among equity investors and gradually rising interest rates, which analysts surmised might begin pushing more conservative income-oriented investors back toward bonds. However, utilities have retained their appeal in 2014 because in many cases their yields still well-exceeded those of government bonds and high-quality corporate debt. What’s more, many equity investors sought refuge… Read More