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Monday, May 13, 2:13 PM Defensive stocks such as utilities (XLU -0.4%), which have led this year’s market surge, are fading, and investors should consider cyclical sectors such as tech and energy for long-term value, BlackRock's Russ Koesterich recommends. The utilities sector is overpriced and probably has more room to fall, but investors starved for yields should look at dividend-paying companies from outside the U.S. Comment! [Energy, Tech]
Thursday, May 9, 12:12 PM Stocks recover from early losses, returning to about unchanged in the noon hour. Notably lower today is the utility sector (XLU -1.2%) which is used to outperforming, but not this month. Ahead of the S&P 500 by about 700 basis points at the start of May, the XLU is now even with the broader market for the year. 3 Comments
Monday, May 6, 7:27 AM The S&P 500 (SPY) is fairly valued, says Goldman, but opportunity lies in cyclicals (XLY, XLE, XLI, XLB) which are more undervalued vs. defensives (XLU, XLP, XLV, XTL) than at any time in the last 15 years. "Given the 4 P/E multiple point head start, even a slight valuation normalization should translate into outperformance of cyclicals over defensives during the next 12 months." 1 Comment
Monday, April 29, 12:13 PM "Which has a higher P/E - Procter & Gamble (PG) or Google (GOOG)," asks the WSJ's Tom Lauricella. Enthusiasm for anything with yield has driven the P-E ratios of dividend payers (DVY) like P&G maybe way too high. Techs (XLK) with double-digit earnings growth, no debt, and massive cash balances trade at 12x, says MFS' James Swanson, while a utility (XLU) in Ohio is at 16x. "How far do you go with this game?" "Pretty far," says Templeton's Donald Taylor. "The macro environment (causing this) is not at all likely to change anytime soon." 7 Comments [Quick Ideas]
Thursday, April 4, 6:30 PM The big year for utility funds is pretty much over, ISI predicts, expecting regulated utilities to post a flat total return for the balance of 2013. Even though the Utilities ETF (XLU) has another 13% to go before matching its 2007 high, ISI views the group’s valuation at nearly 16x next year’s earnings, its exposure to a change in interest rates and its big outperformance YTD as key reasons to stay away. 3 Comments [Energy, Quick Ideas]
Monday, March 25, 9:51 AM iShares U.S. Utilities ETF (IDU) announces quarterly distribution of $0.8158. 12-month yield of 3.23% (as of 02/28/2013). For shareholders of record Mar. 27. Payable Apr. 01. Ex-div date Mar. 25. Comment! [Dividends]
Tuesday, March 12, 9:48 AM The trailing P/E ratio on the S&P 500 (SPY) has creeped up to 15.25 from just above 13 late last spring, writes Bespoke. There's nothing unusual about rising valuations during rallies, they say, but keep it on your radar. Contributing most of late to rising multiples have been Staples (XLP) and Discretionary (XLY), but dividend favorites Telecoms (XTL) and Utilities (XLU) continue to trade at nosebleed (for them) valuations. 3 Comments
Friday, March 8, 2:59 PM A check of sector performance YTD finds financials (XLF), consumer discretionary (XLY), healthcare (XLV), consumer staples (XLP), energy (XLE), and industrials (XLI) all ahead of SPY's 9% gain. Utilities (XLU) are lagging just a bit, but the biggest drag is tech (XLK), up 4.9%. Not bad considering Apple's 19% decline. Comment!
Thursday, February 7, 2:50 PM Exelon's (EXC) dividend cut is a bad sign for income investors, Paul Ausick writes, citing the forces that led EXC's move which exert a similar power over other utilities: higher depreciation and amortization expenses due to added capital spending, and a variety of costs - warmer weather, low electricity demand, tighter emission regulations - over which they have little or no control. 12 Comments [Energy]
Thursday, January 24, 1:31 PM A look at the relative strength of S&P 500 sectors vs. the overall average over the past year finds 3 - Consumer Discretionary (XLY), Financials (XLF), and Health Care (XLV) outperforming. Big outperformers a few months back, Telecom (IYZ) and Utilities (XLU) now trail. Underperforming badly not long ago, Energy (XLE) and Industrials (XLI) claw their way back. 2 Comments
Wednesday, January 16, 4:33 PM Tech (XLK) is the new defensive sector, its 14.8 PE ratio continuing to trail traditional cautious plays like telecom (IST), consumer staples (XLP), and utilities (XLU). At a lofty 22 PE ratio, telecom leads all S&P sectors - it's a pretty fancy multiple for a slow-growth sector, but investors are attracted by the lofty yield. The S&P (SPY) as a whole has creeped up to a 14.8 ratio. 2 Comments
Tuesday, January 8, 3:29 PM Vanguard's recent expense reduction means 9 of its 10 sector ETFs are now the cheapest available to U.S. investors. With an annual expense ratio of just 0.14%, VOX, VPU, VCR, VDC, VDE, VHT, VIS, VGT, and VAW stack up favorably vs. the 0.18% charged by State Street's Sector SPDRs (XLU, XLY, XLP, XLE, XLF, XLV, XLK, XLI, XLB and XTL which charges 0.35%) and the 0.47%-0.48% iShares sector ETFs (RXI, KXI, IYE, IYF, IYZ, IYH, IDU, IYW, IYM, IYJ) charge. At 0.19%, Vanguard Financials (VFH) is still slightly more expensive than the Financial SPDR (XLF). 2 Comments
Sunday, January 6, 8:56 AM While the preferred stock (PFF) led the income pack in 2012 with a total return of 18.2%, the current risk-reward profile isn't great, says Barclays' Shobhit Gupta, with the upside capped by the issuer call option, and significant downside if rates rise. One overlooked class for investors: Convertible Bonds (CWB). Barron's overview of the income sector. 26 Comments [Quick Ideas]
Thursday, January 3, 8:12 AM Americans are using more electronic gadgets, but electricity use is barely growing, posing a challenge for utility companies. PEG, NU and others are pouring money into high-voltage transmission lines, while others are slashing spending. EXC is cutting investment in nuclear plant expansions by $1B and in renewable energy projects by $1.3B as it tries to avoid a credit downgrade. 9 Comments [Energy]
Monday, December 31, 2012, 7:30 AM It paid to heed the many mid-year warnings of bubbly utility sector valuations. After a 9.5% decline since the beginning of August, the XLU will finish the year down more than 4%, totally offsetting its yield. The sector's overvaluation left it exposed to any sort of bad news, and it got it with Sandy and the post-election realization of maybe higher dividend tax rates. 3 Comments [Energy]
Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 2:10 PM Utilities (XLU +0.5%) could be poised for a rebound after a rough month. Yesterday, utility stocks jumped on the strength of electricity providers after Deutsche Bank upgraded Exelon (EXC +2%). Today, the sector again moves higher after ISI Group upgrades EXC to Buy from Neutral. Also: UNS +1.7%, NVE +1.6%, PPL +1.2%. 6 Comments [Energy, Quick Ideas, On the Move]

IDU iShares Dow Jones US Utilities ETF

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iShares Dow Jones US Utilities ETF