IBD Special Report:
Mutual Fund Monthly
Heading closer to the end of the year and the fiscal cliff,
managers of top-performing funds the past three months have been
slow to make big bets on a market direction.
Leading funds have been easing into defensive sectors, such as
medical stocksResMed (
RMD
),Watson Pharmaceutical (
WPI
),Illumina (
ILMN
) andHCA Holdings (
HCA
), in their latest reporting periods.
The Lipper health/biotech group was the best-performing sector
year to date through Nov. 30, with a 21.34% gain.
Top funds continued to bank on financials, especially credit
card processors, includingVisa (
V
), NetSpend Holdings (NTSP),FleetCor Technologies (FLT)
andPortfolio Recovery Associates (PRAA).
The group is expected to do well as consumers ring up holiday
purchases. As of Tuesday, the industry was ranked No. 26 among
IBD's 197 industries.
IBD found 19 best-performing funds added ResMed, investing an
estimated $5.2 million. The $6.4 billion Calamos Growth Fund
added shares as of its latest reporting period.
The San Diego, Calif.-based firm makes medical devices to
treat, diagnose and manage sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and
other respiratory disorders.
SDB includes a wide range of respiratory disorders from
snoring to obstructive sleep apnea. It affects about 20% of the
adult population.
ResMed has clocked solid double-digit earnings growth, rising
29%, 38% and 42% in the past three quarters. But revenue growth
has been slowing for the same period.
After breaking out in early August, the stock made a healthy
run to a 52-week high of 42.30 on Oct. 24. Since then, it's been
trading sideways in a flat base.
Sell Side
The nation's top funds were taking profits of big media
issues, such asWalt Disney (DIS),News Corp. (NWS) andTime Warner
(TWC). These stocks have performed well this year, but have
pulled back in recent months.
There were 31 net sellers of Walt Disney. The $20.7 billion
Fidelity Balanced Fund unloaded some shares in its latest
reporting period.
Building stocks have benefited from improving signs of
activity.Weyerhaeuser (WY),Snap On (SNA) andMasco (MAS) were
among those sold by leading funds. They're trading near their
52-week highs.