Sector ETFs During the Correction: Energy Slides, Consumer Staples Hold Their Ground
Michael Johnston submits:Recent weeks have highlighted the “new normal” in the investing world, as concerns of a debt crisis in Europe have rippled throughout the global economy. On Wall Street, developments in the streets of Athens and the German Bundestag have trumped more local economic indicators, as U.S. markets have taken their cues from across the pond in recent weeks. The extent to which global equity markets are now interconnected has frustrated investors who have watched a wave of general risk aversion pummel assets not related to the recent turmoil in Europe. Ticker Sector % XLE Energy -16.5% XLF Financial -14.4% XLB Materials -14.0% XLI Industrials -12.4% XLK Technology -12.4% XLY Consumer Discretionary -11.0% XLV Health Care -9.3% XLU Utilities -7.9% XLP Consumer Staples -7.4% Correlations may have shot towards 1.0 in recent years, but recent weeks have shown that even within the U.S. economy, different sectors can deliver wildly different returns during tumultuous stretches. A quick look at the performance of the nine sector SPDRs since the S&P 500 hit its 2010 high in late April reveals a significant gap between the best and worst performers.Complete Story »
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