There’s no question things have been tough lately, psychologically at least as much as financially. Bad companies are seeing their stocks destroyed, and even good companies’ stocks are getting punished. For those of you in need of a glimmer of hope, we’ve got one for you today … water utility stocks don’t stink right now. They’re actually up for the week, the last two weeks, the last four weeks, and the last six months. It may not be sexy or cutting-edge, but it’s better than losses.

The chart below is the Dow Jones Water Index. The recent recovery effort has certainly been more volatile than the move lower was, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Just so you know, the Dow Jones niche indices (and water is one of them) include almost all listed stocks in the industry according to SIC codes. However, it still may be worth breaking the group down into small and mid cap segments. Sooo…

The next chart is of the S&P Mid Cap Water Index, and then the S&P Small Cap Water Index. Clearly it’s the mid and large caps doing the heavy work here, as the small caps in the group have actually moved mostly lower.

Some of the more prominent large cap and mid cap water utility names are American States Water (AWR), California Water Group (CWT), SJW Corp. (SJW), Aqua America (WTR), and American Water Works (AWK).

Based on the charts above, one would think the all the big shining stars in the industry would be lending a helping hand. However, only California Water and Aqua America are actually making any progress. The other three stocks are drags. That’s a little unusual, but not unheard of. Needless to say, that makes those two stocks at least a little more attractive than others in this group.

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