Winning is an elusive act, so if you change your perspective on what sector is ahead, which exchange traded fund (ETF) is actually ahead?

Most investment professionals use the S&P 500 to gauge the performance of U.S. stocks. Earlier this week, the information technology sector accounted for 16.3% of the index, while financials dropped to 16.2% of the index. That means for the first time since 2002, the market capitalization of the sector fell below that of technology, reports John Spence for Market Watch.

Since the mid-1990s, tech and financials have been neck-and-neck to
be at the top of the stocks, marked by volatile market swings such as
the dot com boom/bust and now the credit squeeze that began last summer. At the market top in 2000, the internet frenzy pushed tech stocks to 34.5% of the market. At their bottom in October 2002, they were 13% of the market, while financials were 20%.

Once again, tech stocks are ahead, but they didn’t earn it. And make no mistake: the sector is still down - it’s just down less. Financials have just been hit enough that it’s allowed them to pull ahead. The down-trodden financial sector has been reflecting the rough times in its ETFs:

• SPDR Financial (XLF), down 12.9% year-to-date
• Vanguard Financials (VFH), down 11.4% year-to-date
• iShares Dow Jones US Financial Services Index Fund (IYG), down 13.6% year-to-date

Some technology ETFs:

• Nasdaq 100 Trust (QQQQ), down 5.5% year-to-date
• Internet HOLDRs (HHH), down 2.1% year-to-date
• Vanguard Information Technology VIPERs (VGT), down 6.6% year-to-date

Tags | Financial, NASDAQ, S&P 500, Technology