The SKF is dead, now its the XLF MacLeod

There is now only one security to play, thanks to the SEC temporarily banning 799 financial firms.  The SKF is dead, and like the Highlander, there can be only one, and its the Financial Select Sector SPDR (ETF) (AMEX:XLF).

Rather than place your bets on any one bank or financial player, just go the middle road and bet on the whole sector.  Thanks to the U.S. government doing a makeover on the financial sector and with a 'bailout plan' to be worked out over the weekend, the XLF stands to make a decent return in the coming months.

The Treasury Department also announced Friday that it will insure the holdings of money market mutual funds for a year, if the institutions pay a fee to participate in the program. This action “should enhance market confidence and alleviate investors’ concerns about the ability for money market mutual funds to absorb a loss,” a department statement said.

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Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Financial Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index (the Index). The Index includes financial service firms with diversified business lines ranging from investment management to commercial and investment banking. The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing investment approach to invest in a portfolio of stocks that seek to replicate the Index. The Fund’s investment advisor is SSgA Funds Management, Inc.

217,565,024 Volume:	237,464,300 Avg Volume:
35.97 52-wk High:	16.77 52-wk Low:
24.50 Day's High:	21.26 Day's Low:
6/20/08  $0.20 Dividend:	19.82 Prev. Close
4.29% Yield:	$8,691 mil Market Value:

Components and weightings as of 9/18/08 - Here are the top 20 holdings, the entire list can be found here: http://www.sectorspdr.com/spdr/composition/?symbol=XLF

The XLF, after all, there can be only one: