Investors still love Cathie Wood, but hate the best-performing sector of the year

Investors still love Cathie Wood, but hate the best-performing sector of the year

The bloodbath in the markets this past week wrecked retail stocks, as Walmart (WMT) posted its worst week ever, falling 20%.

Amid the carnage, investors piled into beaten-down names like the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) while shunning the best performing sector of the year. The energy sector's stunning 47% return this year stems from soaring oil and gas prices, as WTI crude oil futures (CL=F) surged 56% this year.

Still, investors have yanked $705 billion from the iShares U.S. Energy ETF (XLE) — the world's largest such fund — which roughly mirrors the $730 billion investors put to work in Cathie Wood's flagship disruption fund, which is down 55% in 2022.