A Rough Four Days

A Rough Four Days

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012 AT 12:21PM

The S&P 500 is currently down 3.48% since the close on Election Day.  Below we highlight the performance of the ten S&P 500 sectors since last Tuesday.  It's not surprising to see Energy, Financials and Technology underperforming the overall market over the last four days, but it is surprising to see the Utilities sector underperforming as well.  As shown below, the Utilities sector is down 3.83% since Election Day, which is 35 basis points worse than the S&P 500.  Defensive sectors typically hold up well during market declines, so what's causing investors to flee Utilities?  There's a lot of talk about the looming increase in dividend tax rates, but Hurricane Sandy is likely having just as much of an impact, if not more.