Sector Week-in-Review: Healthcare Takes a Hit on Election Results

Nick Perry (Schaeffer's Investment Research) submits: Last week I looked at what groups were leading and lagging so far this quarter, and this week I am back for my regular check of the weekly action (click to enlarge):

The big news this week was of course the elections, which appear not to have hampered too many groups. ETFs related to drug stocks and healthcare were hit after elections, but most groups show a gain on the week. In fact, only seven of the funds on my list are lower.

In last week's column we saw that silver has been the strongest area and this week the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) continues its gains as it tops the list. The big news in networking this week was the strong earnings report from Cisco Systems (CSCO) that sent that stock gapping higher. You would assume that the gap was what drove the action in PowerShares Networking Fund (PXQ), but that doesn't appear to be the case. The PXQ actually scored most of its gains before the Cisco news hit Thursday.

For a longer-term perspective, the bullets below show how the ETFs listed above have faired over the last six-months, prior to this week.

Prior Six-Month Returns for This Week's Top Performing Sector Exchange Traded Funds:

* iShares Silver Trust (SLV) -13.4%
* PS Networking (PXQ) -6.5%
* Software HOLDRS (SWH) +8.0%
* PS Software (PSJ) +1.0%
* PS Retail (PMR) -1.1%
* PS WilderHill Clean Energy (PBW) -28.4%
* iShares GS Technology (IGM) +0.2%
* iShares DJ Transportation Average (IYT) -7.9%
* PS Leisure & Entertainment (PEJ) +1.7%
* iShares DJ U.S. Technology (IYW) +0.7%
* NASDAQ 100 Trust (QQQQ) -0.3%
* iShares GS Software (IGV) +7.6%

Prior Six-Month Returns for This Week's Bottom Performing Sector Exchange Traded Funds:

* PS Dividend Achievers (PFM) +4.6%
* SPDR Homebuilders (XHB) -19.6%
* SPDR-Consumer Staples (XLP) +5.0%
* PS Energy Exploration & Production (PXE) -2.2%
* streetTRACKS Gold (GLD) -10.6%
* Wireless HOLDRS (WMH) -8.6%
* Biotech HOLDRS (BBH) +7.5%
* iShares DJ U.S. Telecomm (IYZ) +10.0%
* Telecom HOLDRS (TTH) +15.5%
* iShares DJ U.S. Healthcare (IYH) +7.5%
* SPDR-Health Care (XLV) +8.2%
* Pharmaceutical HOLDRS (PPH) +9.7%