At the start of the week, many analysts believed that a -10% correction for U.S. stocks was an inevitability. Scores of investors felt that the first half of the year might not even show gains for their portfolios. And traders predicted that the price on the S&P 500 would struggle to remain above a long-term, 200-day moving average.
Instead, U.S. stocks capped off the 2nd quarter with a 6% surge - the best 5 day run-up in more than a year. What’s more, economically sensitive segments like tech and energy provided the leadership that bulls had been waiting for.
Still, there’s a distinct difference between the leading sectors in the 5-day “risk on” rally and the leading sectors for the 2nd quarter. From April through June, consumer staples, healthcare and utilities dominated the “risk-off” landscape.
Will strong earnings from cyclical segments push benchmarks to new, multi-year highs? Or will fears from worldwide inflation to high unemployment to debt defaults keep stocks under lock and key?
The Retail HOLDRs (RTH) allow investors to play both consumer cyclicals and non-cyclicals in a single ETF. Listen in for 3 reasons why investors should consider RTH for their portfolios in Q3:
