View from the Observation Deck

1. Today's blog post is for those investors who want to know what's working in the markets.
2. All 10 major sectors in the S&P 500 posted positive price-only returns in Q1'13. A total of 121 of the 133 S&P 500 subsectors (91%) were up as well.
3. The 20 top performing subsectors for Q1'13 are featured in the chart. Their price-only returns ranged from 19.67% at the low-end to 59.43% for the top performer.
4. The ones with their returns in gold also happened to be on the list of the 20 best performing subsectors for all of 2012. They currently have the big momentum ("Big Mo") on their side.
5. Here are their price-only returns from 12/11-3/13 (15 Months): Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing (+149.2%); Health Care Facilities (+131.9%); Building Products (+98.5%); Broadcasting (+78.0%); Biotechnology (+76.9%); and Real Estate Services (+65.9%).
6. For comparative purposes, the S&P 500 posted a price-only return of 28.3% over the same period. 

This chart is for illustrative purposes only and not indicative of any actual investment. The illustration excludes the effects of taxes and brokerage commissions and other expenses incurred when investing. Investors cannot invest directly in an index. The S&P 500 is a capitalization-weighted index comprised of 500 stocks used to measure large-cap U.S. stock market performance, while the S&P Subsector Indices are capitalization-weighted and comprised of S&P 500 constituents representing a specific industry.

To download a PDF of this post, click here.