With the exception of biotech and select medical device makers, the health care sector usually is not thought of as a bastion of volatility.
The opposite is true of small-caps, so the combination of small-cap health care stocks, which usually means biotech and medical equipment firms, under the umbrella of one ETF can yield interesting results.
That combination has worked for the PowerShares S&P SmallCap Health Care Portfolio (NasdaqGS: PSCH). PSCH does not command the same attention as larger health care ETFs, but its track record demands a closer look. Over the past year, PSCH is up almost 40%. Over the past 24 months, the ETF’s returns swell to 55.6% and since its debut in April 2010, PSCH has more than doubled. [ETFs for Rising Health Care Names]
PSCH is down 2.8% year-to-date, indicating the fund has been caught on the wrong side of increased market volatility. Its holdings tell the story as health care is becoming an increasingly volatile sector. [Rising Volatility Not All Bad News]
Bespoke Investment Group has a list of S&P 1500 stocks above $10 with the largest intraday spreads on Feb. 5 with health care and energy tied with 12 names apiece. Three health care names appeared in the group of stocks with rising 50-day averages with the remaining nine in the group of falling 50-day lines.