Health Care Stocks Weathering Recession Better Than Others
Among 10 sectors that Standard & Poor's tracks, health care stocks showed the second-smallest loss in the past year, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Health care stocks dropped by an average of 21.6%, lower only than consumer goods at 19.7%. By comparison, the S&P 500 Index dropped 40%.
Moreover, health care stocks fell by 1.3% on average in January, while the S&P 500 decreased by almost 8.6%.
Concerns
Despite health care's relative resilience through the recession, fund managers are encouraging investors to be cautious about shifting their holdings heavily toward health care, stressing that not all areas of the health care sector are faring well.
Rose Ott, manager of the Alger Health Sciences Fund, said, "Health care is a good space to be involved in," adding, "But you can't be in every single stock in health care, because every company is going through its own fundamental issues and changes, and a lot of them are feeling the pinch" (Jewell, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 2/5). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.