consumer staples ETFs

The consumer staples and utilities sectors have long been the favored destinations of defensive, income-minded investors. This is due to the higher dividend yields and lower volatility compared to other sectors. The downside of these sectors is that they aren't always great for short-term...

The Consumer Staples Select Sect. SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLP) and other traditional consumer staples exchange-traded funds have recently been scuffling on concerns that the sector is pricey on valuation and in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's first interest rate hike of 2016. The Fed proceeded...

The Consumer Staples Select Sect. SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLP), the largest consumer staples exchange-traded fund by assets, is up 6.4 percent year-to-date. That sounds pretty good until put into the context that XLP resides about 5.2 percent below its all-time high set in July and recently has shown...

Defensive stocks and sectors have been in vogue this year, a theme that is benefiting the consumer staples sector in a big way. Among traditional sector exchange traded funds, the Consumer Staples Select Sect. SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLP) is one of the year's best with a gain of 11.2 percent. It's...

Among the nine original sector SPDR exchange-traded funds, only two can top the Consumer Staples Select Sect. SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLP) on a year-to-date basis. XLP, the largest consumer staples ETF by assets, is up more than 10 percent year-to-date. That is just one data point, but it underscores...

Although stocks surged Monday, just 14 exchange-traded funds hit all-time highs. Indicating that conservative, lower beta fare is still in style, six of the seven sector ETFs that hit new highs Monday were consumer staples, telecom or utilities funds. Of the seven ETFs in the all-time high club,...

Before proclaiming consumer staples stocks as boring and small-caps as disappointing to this point in 2016, have a look at the PowerShares S&P SmllCp Csmr Stpls Pfo (NASDAQ: PSCC). The PowerShares S&P SmallCap Consumer Staples Portfolio is small-cap cousin of the popular Consumer Staples...

Here is an anecdote that highlights just how much low beta, stodgy stocks have been in style this year: On a year-to-date basis, just two members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up at least 10 percent. One is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the world's largest retailer. That serves...

Give the Consumer Staples Select Sect. SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLP) some credit. The largest consumer staples exchange-traded fund by assets is up 6.6 percent year-to-date despite strong dollar headwinds and the subsequent challenges created by speculation, though now dwindling, that the Federal Reserve...

The strength in the Consumers strength ETF since the beginning of February may be a sign of things to come, while the strength in this sector is not always a guarantee of a weakening market, one cannot ignore the recent rise.   Generally defensive consumer staple stocks are laggards in a...