Performance Derby: Stocks YTD & In February

The S&P 500 was up 3.4% ytd through the last day of February (chart). All of the 11 S&P 500 sectors with the exception of Information Technology gave back some of their January gains (or widened their losses) during February (chart). The market was discounting a soft landing in January. During February, the concern was an inflationary no-landing scenario. It's been a tug of war between the bulls and the bears so far this year. We are pulling for the bulls. The next batch of economic indicators out this month will determine which side gains ground.