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Merrill Lynch tracks two cyclical indexes, one for Early Cyclicals (^XE) and one for Late Cyclicals (^XT). The Earlies are mostly big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Lowe’s while the Lates are your classic Johnny Lunch Bucket stocks like U.S. Steel.

For about four years now, the Lates have clobbered the Earlies. Yet here’s the interesting part: There’s an especially large divergence today. The Early Cyclicals are down about 2% while the Late Cyclicals are basically flat.

Posted by edelfenbein at September 20, 2007 2:54 PM