That glimmer of hope the financial sector had experienced seems to have stopped for now, as financial stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) began their downward slide on Thursday, and it continued on into Friday.
The sector as a whole last week was down about 5%, and the funds have weathered recent news that the credit sector’s troubles aren’t exactly over.
Insurer American International Group (AIG) announced its second consecutive quarterly loss on Friday, and Citigroup (C) said it has plans to shed $500 billion in assets, including making more job cuts.
Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman, says the worst of the credit crunch has passed, but U.S. home prices are not ready to turnaround yet, and U.S. growth will continue its crawl.
Among the financial-sector ETFs available:
- Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF), down 8.4% year-to-date
- iShares Dow Jones U.S.Financial Sector Index Fund (IYF), down 7.8% year-to-date
- Vanguard Financials (VFH), down 8.1% year-to-date
- PowerShares Dynamic Banking Portfolio (PJB), up 2.4% year-to-date
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.