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Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF

6/20/2013, 4:37 AM ET

Quote & Headlines Market Currents StockTalk

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Wednesday, June 19, 10:53 AM "Sell in May and go into cyclicals," says Ralph Acampora after the last month. He reminds of an old adage saying sectors going down the least during a selloff become the new market leaders. During SPY's 5.2% decline from May 22-June 6, the best performers were Tech (XLK) and Industrials (XLI). The worst were Telecommunications (IYZ) and Utilities (XLU). This "rolling rotation" between sectors is necessary, he says, to give further life to the secular bull market begun in March 2009. 3 Comments
Tuesday, June 18, 9:11 AM BAML private clients bought the dip last week, with the flows going via ETFs into large-cap and dividend plays like Utilities (XLU, IDU) - which saw the greatest buying since November 2011. Another favorite of the dividend crowd, Telecoms (IYZ) saw the biggest inflows since February. After buying through the spring, hedge funds turned sellers last week, and are now net-sellers YTD - just like 2012. Comment!
Monday, June 17, 2:47 PM Stocks give up more than half of their earlier gains 75 minutes before the bell, the S&P 500 (SPY +0.4%). It's those interest rates again. Quiet for most of the day, rates began turning higher (TLT -0.4%) just after lunch, and the 10-year yield is now up 4 bps to 2.17%. Favorites of the dividend players, health care (XLV) and utilities (XLU) underperform - just flat on the session. 3 Comments
Monday, June 17, 12:56 PM More from Zulauf at Barron's: Taking issue with the gathering consensus of a stronger economy and the Fed pulling back, Zulauf suggests bond yields (TLT, TBT) may have stopped rising and could be set to fall. In conjunction with that view, noncyclical names (XLU, XLV) could be set for a comeback at the expense of cyclical sectors (XLV, XLB, XLE). Comment! [Quick Ideas]
Friday, May 31, 7:50 PM Look for any piece of news that smacks of an improving economy to send stocks falling next week, warns CNBC's Jim Cramer. Why? Big money investors will interpret any positive economic signs as a signal that the Fed is about to pull back economic stimulus rather than risk runaway inflation. Still, he says, there may be opportunities in the pullback, particularly in the bank, tech and industrial spaces. Just says away from anything with a higher yield, like utilities and MLP's. 37 Comments [U.S. Economy, Quick Ideas]
Friday, May 31, 2:49 PM Stocks turn lower (DIA -0.5%) 90 minutes ahead of the bell as Treasury prices tumble anew (TLT -1.2%), the 10-year yield gaining another 9 bps to 2.20%. The levered Treasury short ETF (TBT +2.5%) hits a 52-week high. Again hardest hit are the previously hot defensive sectors whose yields no longer stand so tall over Treasurys. Health care (XLV -1.1%), Consumer staples (XLP -1.1%). Utilities (XLU +0.1%) however, get a respite from an ugly month. 6 Comments
Thursday, May 30, 4:58 PM The utilities sector (XLU +0.2%), up as much as 2% early after NV Energy (NVE +22.5%) agreed to be acquired by Berkshire Hathaway at a hefty premium, wound up surrendering the bulk of its gains. Utilities remain May's weakest performer, down 8.5%, as rising interest rates, optimism over economic growth and a downbeat reading on future electricity prices send yield-seekers rotating into cyclicals. Comment! [Energy]
Thursday, May 30, 3:22 PM The Utilities Select Sector ETF (XLU) - which outpaced the broader averages for much of the year - is on pace for its worst month since the dark days of February 2009, off 7.9% thus far. The steady dividend payers have been sought-after commodities for some time, but a 50 bp rise to 2.12% in May has the 10-year Treasury offering a bit of competition. 2 Comments [Energy]
Wednesday, May 29, 11:15 AM Stocks tumble to session lows in late-morning trade, the DJIA (DIA -1%) off 168 points. Gravity continues to take hold of the previously-leading defensive sectors as their dividends are starting to face competition from Treasurys - Healthcare (XLV -1.7%), Utilities (XLU -1.9%), Consumer staples (XLP -1.8%). Residing in tech, but favored for its high dividend, Verizon (VZ -2.9%) is off about 5% from its gap open yesterday. 3 Comments
Tuesday, May 28, 2:59 PM If long-term Treasury yields keep rising, dividend-seeking investors in utilities (XLU -1.4%) will wonder how the lights went out for the sector, 24/7's Jon Ogg writes. The risk isn't only that investors may go elsewhere for yield; utilities have high operating costs and they borrow heavily to pay for infrastructure investments. Today's analyst downgrades only magnify what investors have to fear. 5 Comments [Energy]
Tuesday, May 28, 11:45 AM As stocks move broadly higher, utilities (XLU) lag following downgrades of Exelon (EXC -7.1%) and First Energy (FE -6.7%) by Deutsche Bank based on "the ugly reality of the 2016-17 RPM auction results." The firm sees downside in all integrated power names as the "uncertain path to a power market recovery forces investors to reconsider the multiples paid for commodity cyclical power generation assets." (earlier) 4 Comments [Energy, On the Move]
Friday, May 24, 2:25 PM There's some green on the screen about 90 minutes before the bell with the Dow (DIA, DOG) nosing into positive territory and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq now lower by only a hair. Today's weakest sector is the utilities (XLU -1.1%), continuing a bad month that's seen the once-leading group underperform the S&P by nearly 1000 basis points. YTD, the S&P's now ahead of utilities by about 500 bps. 2 Comments
Thursday, May 23, 12:50 PM The defensive utility sector (XLU -1%) isn’t looking very safe at the moment, as the break below the 50-day moving average suggests further weakness in the days ahead. Technician Ralph Acampora sees the break as a short-term sell for the Dow Jones Utility index but also a longer-term positive for the broader market as investors rotate out of defensive sectors and into more economically sensitive stocks. 1 Comment [Energy, Quick Ideas]
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