Dividend Stocks Finally Showing Life

At the July lows, the Dow Jones Dividend index was down 35% since the market peaked last October.  Compared to a decline of 22% for the S&P 500, dividend stocks (which have a lot of financials) underperformed mightily.  Since the July lows, however, it has been dividend stocks that have helped bring the index back. 

As shown below, the Dow Jones Dividend index is now down just 23% since 10/9/07, while the S&P 500 is down 17%.  Since July 15th, the dividend index is up 18%, while the S&P is up 6.4%.

click to enlarge