As is often the case, what worked best in the past isn't working quite so well today. Utilities stocks lead the market higher during the first half of this year, but since the start of the quarter (and particularly since last week's hawkish Fed) Utilities are the worst performers. And this is a trend that might not be over.
Interestingly, the story is exactly opposite for financial stocks as they've perked up this quarter (particularly after last week's Fed) after being among the worst performers during the first half of this year. This is likely due to the market's expectation of better net interest margins for many financials (particularly banks) if/when the Fed raises rates (which they seem increasingly likely to do).
It's important to be aware of these larger market trends, but we believe it's much easier to identify individual stocks that are undervalued and will likely perform better in the future than it is to predict broad market trends. Here is a look at the performance of each of the Dow Jones 30 stocks so far this year, this quarter, and since last week's Fed...
We currently own 7 of the 30 Dow Jones stocks across our Disciplined Growth and Income Equity strategies because we expect them to deliver better long-term returns than the rest of the group. Additional information about our investment strategy and our current holdings is available at: Membership Information.