Thursday, November 05, 2009

A Further Look at Market Laggards




We've seen a rally off the recent market lows, but several areas of the market are lagging. Above we can see that bank ($BKX; bottom chart) and insurance ($KIX; middle chart) remain well off their highs. The financial sector is one I'm watching closely; it led the market meltdown and then led the risk rally since March. Its underperformance now is unsettling to the bull case.

Also clearly underperforming is Japan (EWJ; top chart). This is another situation I'm watching closely, given troublesome longer-term fundamentals, including high levels of public debt and problematic demographics.
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