New York (HedgeCo.Net) January 15 marked the end of the first 10 days of trading in 2015 and to say it has been a little shaky for the stock market would be putting it mildly. The S&P lost 3.18% in those first 10 days and that is the worst start to a new year since 2009 as the market was at the tail-end of the bear market that gripped most of the world markets.

The selling hasn’t been across all sectors as three of the ten main sectors have seen positive returns—utilities, healthcare and consumer staples. Given the volatile market, it seems fitting that the three defensive sectors would be leading the way and the only three in positive territory.

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It also isn’t surprising to see that the energy sector lagged the rest of the sectors as it was the worst performing sector in 2014 and it was the only sector down for last year.

It is a little surprising to see the financial sector getting off to such a rough start as it was among the top five performing sectors last year and in the last six months as well. Of course last week was a big one for earnings reports in the financial sector and that obviously had an impact on the sector’s performance.

Rick Pendergraft
Investment Analyst
HedgeCoVest