Steady As She Goes - January 2013 Bank Preferreds Review

January 2013 was a month to remember for investors as the Dow closed at a five-year high on January 29 (13,954) and it was the best January performance for the Dow since 1994 and the S&P since 1997 (it was the best month for the S&P 500 since October 2011). The market rally stalled slightly at the end of the month as it was announced that GDP contracted by 0.1% in the fourth quarter while previous estimates were calling for growth of 1.0%.



Monthly Performance

In January the Dow was up 5.8% and the S&P was up 5.1%. Looking at the three indices that I use to track bank preferred stock performance - PowerShares Preferred (PGX), PowerShares Financial Preferred (PGF) and iShares S&P US Preferred Stock Index (PFF) - it's obvious that while the bank preferred market shared in some of the overall market's upside, the lower volatility made for lower overall gains...


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