Thursday Sector Laggards: Materials, Healthcare

The worst performing sector as of midday Thursday is the Materials sector, not showing much of a gain. Within that group, Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) are two large stocks that are lagging, showing a loss of 6.0% and 2.7%, respectively. Among the high volume ETFs, one ETF closely following materials stocks is the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLB), which is flat on the day on the day, and up 9.22% year-to-date. Precision Castparts, mean...