Software, Telecom, Pharma, Retail Outperform the Street's Expectations

Earlier this year, investors had little to say about the following groups. Here are some of their choicier quotes:

Software - "The group is dead. Even ORCL said the only way it can grow is through acquisitions, and MSFT cannot even get its act in order enough to get Longhorn Vista (or whatever they end up naming it) right."

Diversified Telecom - "Invest in a phone company? How can a company make money selling a service that other companies are giving away for free?"

Drugs - "Billion dollar drugs taken off the market. Litigation risk. Franchise drugs coming off patent. Zero pipeline. No thanks."

Multiline Retail - "The consumer is dead. Enough said."

click charts to enlarge

While investors have had little positive to say about these groups, they have quietly been rallying to the point where all four of them hit new 52-week highs on Friday. Something to think about next time you hear agreement on a particular group having little in the way of investment merit.

Comment on this article