As the S&P 500 flirts with closing 20% above its April 8th closing low, there have been several strong performers helping to drive the gains, and very few losers, with only 56 stocks in the index trading lower. While the rally has been broad, the largest stocks in the index have been driving the gains.  Even as the index is up just over 20%, the average performance of the 500 individual companies has been four percentage points lower at 16.1%.

Of the S&P 500's biggest winners since 4/8 as of Friday afternoon, 19 stocks in the index have rallied 50% or more. A 50% rally over a year or two is incredible enough, but a surge of 50% in less than two months is rare, especially for a large-cap stock.  The table below lists each of the stocks that have rallied 50%, and if there's one theme that immediately stands out, it's that Technology has been driving the surge. Eight of the 19 stocks listed are from the Technology sector, including three of the top four. The best-performing stock off the April low has been Seagate Technology (STX), which has nearly doubled. After Technology, the next most heavily represented sectors are Industrials and Utilities (yes, Utilities!) with three each.

Of the 56 stocks that are lower since April 8th, only 14 have declined by double-digit percentages. Leading the way to the downside, UnitedHealth (UNH) has plunged over 45%. Along with UNH, Humana (HUM) is down close to 20% and just two others are down over 15%.  While Technology has been popular on the leader board, Health Care accounts for more than half (8) of the 14 biggest losers. Looking through the names listed, they're primarily defensive, so you wouldn't expect them to outperform during a period like the last two months, but double-digit declines? Someone get these stocks a doctor!

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