Since the August lows, there have been some subtle signs that the financial sector was finally coming to life. The DJ Financial Index (DJUSFN) has just slightly outperformed the Spyder Trust (SPY) since the August low but is still lagging it so far in 2014.
On a long-term basis, the DJUSFN would need to rally about 50% from current levels to take it back to the 2007 high of 613.56. Many of the best known financial names are also still well below their highs from 2007.
The Financial sector is, of course, made up of four major subsectors: banks, insurance, real estate, and financial services. Each of these can be broken down into individual industry groups, which must be analyzed to find both the market leaders and laggards.
|