Chart of the Day · Friday, October 23, 2026

In three months, energy and health care led the S&P 500 while chip stocks trailed

Over the three months through Oct 22, energy returned 14.0% and health care 11.9%, against 3.6% for the S&P 500: leads of 10.4 and 8.3 points. At the other end, chip stocks trailed by 10.4 points and utilities by 10.4. The last week did much of the work for health care, up 2.3% while the S&P 500 moved -1.0%. Money is moving toward profits that do not depend on the AI buildout, and away from the companies selling into it.

What you are looking at

One row per S&P 500 sector fund (the eleven Select Sector SPDRs) plus the chip-stock fund, and the S&P 500 itself at the bottom as the yardstick. The three columns are each fund's price change over the last week, month and three months. The bar is the three-month change minus the S&P 500's, in percentage points: gold bars beat the market, grey bars trailed it. Rows are ranked by that lead, so the rotation reads top to bottom.

Why it matters

Sector leadership shows where money is moving before it shows up in the headlines.

What they are saying

The common view: the AI trade still leads this market.

The Signal desk

What the data shows

Total return, dividends included, 3 months through Oct 22: Tech +3.8% (+0.1 points vs the S&P 500); Communications +1.4% (-2.3 points vs the S&P 500); Discretionary +5.3% (+1.7 points vs the S&P 500); Financials +1.0% (-2.7 points vs the S&P 500); Health care +11.9% (+8.3 points vs the S&P 500); Industrials -8.5% (-12.1 points vs the S&P 500); Staples +7.7% (+4.0 points vs the S&P 500); Energy +14.0% (+10.4 points vs the S&P 500); Materials +1.3% (-2.3 points vs the S&P 500); Real estate -6.7% (-10.3 points vs the S&P 500); Utilities -6.7% (-10.4 points vs the S&P 500); Chips -6.7% (-10.4 points vs the S&P 500); S&P 500 +3.6%.

Our read

A rotation this sharp is investors paying for steady profits over AI growth, for now. Big Tech's spending plans next week will test it.

Source: Yahoo Finance daily total-return closes through Oct 22, 2026; Nova One's calculation. Every number on the chart is computed from the source data in the same run that drew it. The Signal is research, not investment advice. How we work · Disclosures

In three months, energy and health care led the S&P 500 while chip stocks trailed

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