“The companies whose common stocks were included in the Pharmaceutical HOLDRS at the time the Pharmaceutical HOLDRS were originally issued generally were considered to be among the 20 largest and most liquid companies with U.S.-traded common stock involved in the pharmaceutical industry as measured by market capitalization and trading volume on December 15, 1999.”

PPH Components and Weightings

Check out the monthly charts below of the largest six components of the PPH, paying attention to their prices in December 1999 compared with their prices now. Big Pharma is my favorite market sector at the moment. As soon as I see the public sentiment turn really bearish (the way it did most recently in May 2005), I’ll put a lot more money to work in the most out-of-favor issues.