Financial stocks blazed the trail last week, advancing an average of 5.7%. What’s interesting about the sector’s move, however, is how well distributed the rally was among all the industries. Normally there’s a standout that ends up scoring near the top of the ranks of the industry contest (see below), but in this case none of the top five industries were a financial grouping. It’s a sign of strong breadth from the sector’s gains.

At the bottom of the barrel were telecom and utilities…. two groups that had been at the top of the heap for the last month or so as defensive-minded investors fled to safer havens. Though the two started to lag again last week, don’t give up on either yet… each is still a serious laggard for the last 18 months, meaning they each have plenty of ground to reclaim as the sector rotation effect continues to play out.

Sector Ranking

On the industry-level front, with the exception of motorcycle manufacturers, there’s probably something more to the leading industries from last week [sorry, no long-term data for the paper products index]. Each has been a laggard for the better part of the year, but each is also showing an itch to continue accelerating now.

As for the losing side, seeing multiple healthcare industries at the bottom of the rankings doesn’t bode well for either of those arenas, nor the sector at large.

Regarding packaged foods and distillers, bear in mind that staples fell out of favor last week as visions of bullishness and rapid growth once again danced in investors’ heads. It’s the kind of thing that puts staples and consumables on the backburner. Don’t read too much into the lagging just yet.

Industry Ranking

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