subject: Market Sectors - Organizing The Stock Market [print this page] Market Sectors - Organizing The Stock Market
Does it drive you crazy when things are out of place or when a picture isn't quite level? If you are at your friend's house, do you wipe dust from a shelf or line up the towels when no one is looking? If so, you will like today's topic; but don't worry, we won't lecture you on your obsessive compulsive side! The topic is market sectors and understanding and using them will not only tidy up your stock portfolio but will also help you to strengthen your trading plan as well.
A Definition of Market Sectors
They say a problem will defined is nearly solved; this can be applied to stocks as well. An investor needs a way to sort stocks; the basis of stock technical analysis relies on this comparison. If you can find common ground between two stocks, you can find a measurement of comparison. The best form of association is market sectors. "Market sectors" is a qualification method which looks at the type of business and groups them based on generally accepted names One of the most common classifications breaks the market down into 11 different market sectors. Two are generally regarded as "defensive" and the other nine are referred to as "cyclical". These market sectors are:
Defensive investing with defensive stocks are beneficial to a portfolio because companies in these market sectors typically don't experience as much stock volatility when the market has problems because people still use energy and eat. These are good stabilizers to use for portfolio diversification and offer protection in a falling market.
The downside of defensive stocks is that they don't climb with a rising market. Although the market is doing well people necessarily use more energy or eat more food. Defensive market sectors follow the image that their name implies; they can be used quite well as hedge funds, stable stocks that prevent too much volatility in a portfolio.
Cyclical Stocks
Cyclical stocks cover the remaining market sectors and they typically react to a variety of market conditions. They do move independently, however, as one may be going up while another is going down. Because of this, purchasing from the cyclical market sectors requires good stock market strategies.
Why do we care about market sectors?
There are two important concepts with market sectors. First, by understanding the different market sectors, it is possible to find relationships between different companies. If you don't know that one company is in the health care sector and another is in the energy sector, you might compare their earnings per share and draw conclusions that don't apply.
