Top & Worst Performing Stocks in S&P 500 Index

Finding top & worst performing stocks in S&P 500 index is important. While year 2015 just hit month of March, investors can adjust their strategy based on the trend.

S&P Index

The S&P 500 index is common known as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities. There is more than $7 trillion of assets are benchmarked to the index, with index assets comprising approximately USD 1.9 trillion of this total. The index includes 500 leading US companies.

Top performing stocks in S&P 500 index in 2015 based on YTD performance are:

1. Hospira Inc (HSP) 42.96%
2. First Solar, Inc (FSLR) 35.87%
3. Martin Marietta Materials Inc (MLM) 28.91%
4. Vulcan Materials Company (VMC) 28.88%
5. Netflix, Inc (NFLX) 28.33%
6. Urban Outfitters Inc (URBN) 27.61%
7. Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX) 25.36%

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Dividend Equity Income Fund (ETY)

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Dividend Equity Income Fund (ETY) is an actively managed closed end fund. The fund’s objective is to provide income exempt from Federal income tax and capital appreciation. This fund invests mainly in dividend paying common stocks and through utilizing an options strategy.

ETY Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 05/30/2003
• Ticker Symbol: ETY
• CUSIP: 27828N102
• Rank in category (2014): 77%
• Category: US Equity - Covered Call
• Yield: 8.80%
• Effective Leverage: -
• Capital Gains: -
• Premium/ Discount: -8.28%
• Base Expense Ratio: 1.08%
• Net Assets: $ 1.87 billion

Will REIT Stocks Soar in 2015?

Will REIT Stocks Soar in 2015? Will REIT stocks be the leader in 2015 again? Top performing sectors in week 11, 2015 are Drug Related Products, Major Airlines, hotel/motel REIT, and retail REIT.

Top Real Estate Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of -0.80. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of -1.13%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of -0.52%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 1.25%.

Top performing stock industries in week 11, 2015 (March 9, 2015 to March 15, 2015) are:

1. Drug Related Products 5.84%
2. Major Airlines 4.24%
3. REIT - Hotel/Motel 3.13%
4. REIT – Retail 3.02%
5. Publishing – Newspapers 2.91%
6. REIT – Residential 2.90%
7. Home Furnishing Stores 2.78%
8. Surety & Title Insurance 2.64%
9. Investment Brokerage – Regional 2.55%
10. Long Distance Carriers 2.54%

Best Performing Health & Biotechnology ETFs 2015

Health & biotechnology sector ETFs utilizes its assets to purchase stocks of companies involved in providing healthcare services and technological development. Typically, this sector is seen as more defensive rather than cyclical.

Top Biotech ETFs

These top performer ETFs are sorted based on its 1 year return performance up to March 1, 2015. You can find the fund review from this article. Other fund information can be found below such as expense ratio, Morningstar rating, fund’s NAV, managers, fund’s holdings, yield, etc.

Best performing health & biotechnology ETFs 2015 are:

1. First Trust NYSE Arca Biotech ETF (FBT)
2. SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI)
3. iShares US Healthcare Providers ETF (IHF)
4. SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH)
5. PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP)
6. SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF (XHS)

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG)

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) is an index exchange traded fund offered by Vanguard Group. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF invests in US stocks.

Known for its index mutual fund, Vanguard also provides vast selections of index ETFs for investors.

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF seeks to track the performance of the NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index (formerly known as the Dividend Achievers Select Index). It invests in stocks of companies with a record of growing their dividends year over year. The fund is passively managed by manager.

VIG Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: 04/21/2006
• Ticker Symbol: VIG
• CUSIP: 921908844
• Rank in category (2014): 75%
• Category: Large Blend
• Yield: 2.01%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.09%

Top Consumer Services Stocks 2015

Consumer services stocks are the top performing sectors in week 10, 2015. Can they be the leader in 2015? Top performing industries are Electronics Stores, Sporting Goods Stores, etc.

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of -1.54%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of -0.73%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of -1.50%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of -1.26%.

Top performing stock industries in week 10, 2015 (March 2, 2015 to March 8, 2015) are:

1. Electronics Stores 5.37%
2. Sporting Goods Stores 3.78%
3. Consumer Services 2.43%
4. Sporting Activities 2.42%
5. Hospitals 1.88%
6. Synthetics 1.82%
7. Regional - Pacific Banks 1.67%
8. Processing Systems & Products 1.60%
9. Internet Information Providers 1.44%
10. Gaming Activities 1.39%

Top Performing Emerging Markets Stock Closed End Funds 2015

Investor can invest in emerging markets sector through ETF (exchange traded fund), mutual fund, stock, bond, and CEF (closed end fund). This article will look into the emerging markets stock closed end fund investment especially the best performing funds.

The emerging markets CEFs focus its investment in companies located in emerging markets region. These countries are Brazil, India, China, Turkey, South Africa, etc. Typically, the funds have higher growth rate than the developed countries fund such as US or European.

The top performing list is sorted based on its 1 year performance (up to 02/25/2015). You can find the fund review, performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, fund’s NAV, management, leverage, fund’s sponsor, premium/discount info, etc.

Top performing emerging markets stock closed end funds 2015 are:

1. Turkish Investment Fund (TKF)
2. Aberdeen Emerging Markets Smaller Company Opportunities Fund (ETF)
3. Templeton Emerging Markets Fund (EMF)
4. MS Emerging Markets Fund (MSF)
5. Voya Emerging Market High Dividend Fund (IHD)
6. MS Eastern Europe Fund (RNE)
7. Central Europe Russia & Turkey Fund (CEE)