Fasten your seat belts. It hasn't exactly been a smooth ride for biotech investors lately, but there are enough winners to make the sector as a whole a big winner.
The First Trust NYSE Arca Biotech ETF (FBT), which has some $1.6 billion of assets, has zoomed about 30% higher this year. The ETF tries to replicate the price of the NYSE Arca Biotech Index, which has outperformed peers like the Nasdaq Biotech Index.
The fund's top 10 holdings feature a who's who of big 2014 winners, including Gilead Sciences (GILD), Biogen (BIIB), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) and Illumina (ILMN). It also owned InterMune, the lung disease specialist being acquired by Roche (RHHBF) for $8.3 billion.
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While these biotech stocks are way up this year, others stumbled in the spring as investors moved away from some of the riskier corners of the stock market. Even the Federal Reserve warned investors that some smaller biotech stocks look expensive, reinforcing concerns about a bubble.
