iShares Dow Jones US Broker-Dealers (IAI) is down 51.2% since its June 15, 2007, high and is down 48.7% year-to-date. Lehman Brothers is a major holding in this fund, with 4.3% of the assets, and it has $163 million in assets.
KBW Bank (KBE) is down 40.4% off its Feb. 26, 2007, high and is down 25.2% year-to-date. It has $1.1 billion in assets.
Vanguard Financials (VFH) counts American International Group (AIG) as a top holding, with a 3.9% weighting in the insurer. It’s down 41% since hitting a high on Feb. 26, 2007, and is down 30% year-to-date.
We heartily advocate sticking to a plan – even more so in times like these when everything is so uncertain. We’ve seen it all week: a day with a more than 500-point loss, followed by a day with a huge jump, followed by a day with another big loss. Investors who stuck to the plan and chose to watch from the sidelines until the trends turn positive should be feeling decent right now.