I’m always looking for a reversion to the mean trade but this one is hard to grasp.  They  usually are though.  Who would have thought the best performing sector in the market last year would have been homebuilders?

By BRENDAN CONWAY | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

Metals and mining companies, and coal producers, have been in a slump, given economic worries and sluggish commodities prices. But this year and next could see a revival in the industries’ fortunes, and their shares. How to play the comeback via ETFs.

The global economy keeps chugging along with signs of a modest, but sustainable, recovery. But some stocks haven’t gotten the message, leaving room for investors to take advantage of that opportunity.

Poor-performing industrial metal and mining companies are a cardinal example. The Standard & Poor’s 500 metals and mining subsector fell about 13% in 2012, a disappointing result (to say the least) when compared with the broad index’s 13% gain. Last year’s brew of global economic worries, weak Chinese growth, sluggish commodity prices and trouble at highly leveraged mining companies whacked the sector, but all four problems seem unlikely to repeat at once during 2013.

via Mining, Metals, and Coal Stocks Could Lead – Barrons.com.