What correction? Popular ‘FAANG’ stock portfolio is already back to new high

A group of high-flying stocks that have led the bull market are indicating the correction may be over.

The “FAANG” stocks — Facebook, Apple, Amazon.com, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet — hit a new high for the year on Friday, Bespoke Investment Group pointed out.

An equal-weighted portfolio of the stocks is up 18.4 percent this year, versus the S&P 500’s 2.8 percent gain, Bespoke said in a Friday report.

Source: Bespoke Investment Group

The FAANG stocks are among the largest in the S&P 500 by market capitalization and have in certain years accounted for a significant portion of the index’s gains, while many other stocks lagged. Apple, Alphabet and Amazon are the three largest S&P 500 stocks by market cap, while Facebook ranks fifth and Netflix is 41st.

All five stocks are up year-to-date. Netflix is the greatest gainer, up nearly 49 percent, and Amazon is the second-greatest advancer with gains of 28 percent.

Month-to-date, Facebook and Alphabet are down single digits, while Netflix is the best performer with a gain of nearly 5.8 percent. The S&P 500 is down 2.7 percent for February so far after suffering its first correction in two years earlier this month.

A correction is a drop of at least 10 percent from a recent high, while a bear market is a decline of 20 percent from the high. Stocks remain in their second-longest bull market on record.