XLU
Utilities Select Sector SPDR® Fund
Mentions (24Hr)
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Sell puts on Consumer staples, and utilities stock.
Utilities outperformed the S&P500 for over 20 years.
Payouts on PJM power grid fall 15% in latest power auction (NYSEARCA:XLU)
Largest U.S. grid operator warns of coming power capacity shortfalls (NYSEARCA:XLU)
What does your market dashboard and trading plan look like?
Wash sale rule "substantially identical security"
Carl Icahn Raises His SWX Stake. Do You Think Utility Stocks Are Still A Good Buy?
Carl Icahn Raises His SWX Stake. Do You Think Utility Stocks Are Still A Good Buy?
Market jump after Fed rate hike is a ‘trap,’ Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson warns investors
I was looking at the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) chart from 2000. Its almost the similar situation as most stocks down 30-95% and only 4-5 tech stocks holding the index. Looking like we might be getting close to a second bear market rally.
Sunday Brunch Chartbook: Recent Market Performance and Analysis
$D - Complete Technical Analysis & Play Setup - Clean Weekly Chart Breakout
XLU PUTS ARE THE UNIVERSAL PLAY FOR ALL MY PILLOW DROOLING COMPADRES
Why I Love Active Investment: It's not about beating the market
Looking for tickers that track US economy & world economy
Why is my ticker down? Add these sectors ETF’s to your watchlist to understand the big picture
My Watchlist For 2/18/2021 --- I also recalibrated a search to find lower risk, lower reward plays during this red week -- these are safer.
Mentions
I may be wrong in timeframe, but I bought and then sold it, finally moved to brk/b. At current environment you just buy companies like SO, NEE, DUK or XLU, they are bound to go bullish
XLU as well if you're looking for broad exposure.
I’m playing this supply chain angle through XLU for the stable utility base, PWR for the massive grid rebuild cycle, and a small NXХT position since they sit closest to the actual warehouses and datacenters
I hold XLU, Walmart, and Amazon. Are you proud of me Dad
FIX, GOOGL, ALAB. If I thought it was a bullish year. I'm not convinced. So. AEM, XLU, XLV.
Strengthen my portfolio after selling some holdings. I took positions in VHT, SDY, EWX, GWX, SPEM, and SPDW and XLU because I don't have as much time or confidence picking individual stocks now that I'm almost 40 and starting a family. I may sell a little more tech because I'm up by a large amount
You’ve got a pretty concentrated growth/AI tilt on top of broad US and global ETFs, so your overall risk is heavily tied to large-cap tech even though VT and XLU add some diversification. One way to sanity-check your predictions is to look at what portion of your portfolio is in broad indexes (VOO/VT/QQQ) versus single names (NVDA, AAPL, META, DUOL, ANET) and ask how you’d feel if the AI/mega-cap theme underperforms for a few years. VT slowly becoming your top holding will naturally reduce single-stock risk over time, while XLU is a small but useful ballast if rates stay lower. If you want to visualize how much of your portfolio is really in US tech versus other sectors and regions, a tool like [WizardFolio.com](http://WizardFolio.com) or any ETF look-through site can help you see the underlying exposures more clearly.
XLU did a 2-1 split today. I was looking at sectors and the chart was all fucked.
That is because the utilities sector (XLU), typically considered a defensive sector, receded along with other defensive sectors as softer economic readings increased investor confidence in a stable rate environment, favoring growth-oriented tech and industrial stocks instead.
JEPI might be a good investment choice for him. High yield and low volatility. It won’t help with long term growth, but aggressive investing in his 60s could make you both uncomfortable. There are some low volatility equity ETFs out there that might interest you like SPLV, USMV, VFMV, but all of them still had significant drawdowns in 2020 and 2022 like everything else. Another option might be defensive ETFs, but don’t expect S&P level performance: XLU, VDC, XLV, SPHD. I sympathize, my father never invested in the market either. He had a good run living off his own parents until they died and he inherited a fortune in assets, but given his nature he blew thru millions in only a few short years. Now any bills not covered by social security fall to my sister or me. 😡
I honestly hate chasing the energy sector because there are so many geopolitical shifts that I don't have my pulse on. So I went for XLU as part of my defensive segment
My thought process and approach combines a couple things you've touched on. I have one taxable brokerage set up as a short-term/defensive portfolio. I initially considered what you're doing with 3-4 years in a money market, but I felt like I didn't need to be quite that conservative. I have *one* year of essential expenses parked in a rolling ladder of treasury bills, and then 3-4x that amount in defensive investments. Those investments include various flavors of municipal bonds, a broad taxable bond index position just for diversity's sake, lower-volatility/dividend-yielding ETFs (HDV, SCHD), and defensive sector equity ETFs (XLU, VDC). My money market position, that those investments drip into, is then just a discretionary pile of cash that I can do whatever with. Maybe go towards my long-term investment account, or cover expenses, home improvement, vacation, etc. The intent is to eek out a bit more return than a money market, and give up some long-term total return in exchange for stability, while being relatively tax efficient (qualified dividends, and tax-exempt bond interest).
SCHG, XLU, SGOV. Growth, utilities for AI play without more tech, and cash equivalents.
i'm looking to do similar as the price of individual stocks are leaving a sour taste. especially with certain firms seeing \~5% moves on the daily. thing is, I HATE the concentration risk in the indexes but there are very few ETF's lacking concentration risk AND have the liquidity to be trade-worthy. most of these are sector specific; XLI, XOP, XLU, etc. my thought process is to short premium directionally, risking 10 to make 2 (\~70ish % probability) in a defined risk setup. Delta is less a factor, it's the risk/reward scenario. the lack of option risk trades on my account lets me sleep at night, but the lack of cash flow makes me dread the monthly bills.. it's becoming more and more difficult to filter the static in the market and find rational trades. the indexes will outlive us, and i'm guessing in 10years the price will be higher than it is now... but it's the next 6 months I have to focus on. I would not be surprised in a \~20% fluctuation in that time frame.
The good thing about the -0.15 delta is that is automatically adjusts the strike price farther out during periods of high volatility. Also with high IV I'm getting larger credits. All of these underlyings trade differently and some of the lower liquidity and lower IV names (like TLT and XLU) are not as profitable. However, I do include them in the method in order to have some underlying diversification. I see what you are saying about looking for support levels that have historically held, but I don't feel technical analysis has benefited me much in the past. I think the Black-Scholes model and market forces are more likely to get me the appropriate strike price to achieve the 85% winning percentage that I'm looking for. I have not tracked assignment rates because I never get assigned with this method. I'll close them out immediately at a 200% loss or when the trade moves ITM. Or I'll close them on expiration Friday so my assignment risk is 0. I have tried around 70 names over the last five years and I find that these 12 work the best in terms of aggregate profit.
XLU 1/15/2027 calls. All these Data centers will need energy. Not a quick win but can DCA and pump the bags.
Been buying XLU and XLUI for more income.
Maybe a pay day loan type company or consumer lending so long as it’s an asset light model with minimal retained credit risk. You could just buy puts…. Or short… or buy a short etf…. Or buy defensives like XLP and XLU. Or you can make a bet against me and I’ll give you $100 for every $1 drop in SPY and you give me $100 for every $1 gain. We can settle once a month. You can close the trade anytime at month end.
Reason I am buying XLU and XLUI. Should get me energy, utilities and things like nuclear, etc.
I like XLU ( utilities) but its so tiny it would not move the index
just get XLU leaps, don’t overthink it
my secret boomer alpha is XLU LEAPs. Still relatively cheap and the sector has a lot of headwinds. Loaded more today
I have some XLU, but it has a lot of exposure to NEE which is renewables-focused and has been very volatile due to national politics. Mostly I have DUK and SO and they've done very well. I picked them specifically because they cover red states and have cozy relationships with regulators and government. I also have some D, which is in Virgina. They had a disastrous period due to mismanagement, cut the div and I dumped most of it. But supposedly northern VA is going to be a hot spot for data centers, so it's recovered some. I haven't put any new money in it. Don't buy any utils that operate on the west coast. If interest rates start going up, utils will come down to the bottom of their channel and you can buy. The DJ Utilities index has one of the most rock solid long-term, well-defined upward channels you will ever see.
Oil proce so low but energy price so high XLU 🚀🚀🚀
XLU ETF up 15 pct y/y, 2.7 pct div
I have just been buying XLU. Get all types of companies and all types of energy production.
XLU has been doing pretty great this year. I’ve been adding since August.
Mine : GOOG, AAPL, MRNA, XME, XLU, MSTR
I am buying XLU. Utility companies are and should be investing into projects for solar, wind, hydro, gas, nuclear.
The utility sector must grow faster than the AI sector, if not, this bull market will stop until in the following month. I'm keeping an eye on electric generation and transportation (XLU).
I am buying XLU. Hoping utility companies will invest into all the possible energy productions. Solar, wind, gas, nuclear, hydro, etc.
First off, I’ve been investing for 2 years and have limited experience. But to answer your question, I read news, mostly on Yahoo Finance, and in November last year I had an aha moment when I realized that just like AI needed chips (Nvidia etc) they also need immense power. And in November there was an article about this, and about different American energy companies. I made a watchlist of all of them + others I found, and then I watched them over time. I invested early in VST because it seemed less volatile and less ”fame driven” than OKLO with the connection to Sam Altman. I saw OKLO go from 18 to 50, then down again to 20 in March 2025, the up and up and up after that. The point of my story here is to be curious, make watchlists so that you get to know the movement of the stock over time. FWIW my energy watchlist is CCJ, CEG, NUKL.DE, OKLO, SMR, TLN, VST, XLU. I also bought Siemens in Germany for similar reasons. Disclosure, I hold OKLO, VST, CCJ and Siemens. Wish I had bought TLN early as well. I have other lists for eg quantum computing and for minerals.
Next duo I am buying XLU for defense strategy it’s an energy ETF because if the energy is going to start going thru the roof I might as well get something on the backend. SPLG which is a 1/6 cheaper dupe of VOO. BrkB if again below $480.
XLU is getting fucked by mr orange as a result of his war on renewables, imo.
I second **GDX** and **XME**. **XLU** has been good to me, but this little dip lately hasn't been fun. Mostly I wanted to second this: >I use LEAPS to add leverage to...ETFs. ETFs often get overlooked, but many of them actually have great returns: **GDX** 106% ytd, **XME** 52% And some don't: **XLU** 13% ytd But add the leverage of LEAPS Calls and watch out! For **XLU** you get 5.3 times leverage, adjusted for delta. So that ho-hum 13% becomes 68%, which is more than solid. Then sell low-delta Calls against them if you like, for a little extra juice. ETFS are quite a bit safer than individual stocks, because they don't have "single-issue risk." I use Barchart's ETF screener on 3-month performance (Has Options, Volume >1M shares), then look at their charts till I find **smooth** ones. Going up, of course, but 'smooth' takes precedence over return. Some others I like right now: **SIL/SILJ, MAGS, MCHI, XLC**
Depends on how you want to play it. Personally I use LEAPS to add leverage to low IV stocks or ETFs. I've found XME, XLU and GDX to be great. I also love using LEAPS on dividend stocks, because although you dont get the dividend, the dividends effects on the extrinsic value is such that you can buy LEAPS with basically no theta, which in turn means you can aggressively sell against them, knowing at any point you can exercise for close to nothing and allow the shares to be called away and start again. BTI, CSCO and HPQ have been solid choices with that tactic for me, although it should work with any dividend stock you like that pays over 4-ish% yield.
Sure! Overall it's a 30/70 split between equities and fixed income. My base defensive layer is the emergency fund, which I split up in rolling treasury bills with one maturing every week. Alternatively you could do SGOV, which yields a little less, but the T-bills are so easy I figure why not squeeze the most out of them. Substantial amount of municipal bonds via a national, low-expense ratio ETF, MUB. I also have in-state municipals in MSNCX, even though the expense ratio is brutal, and some individual in-state bonds laddered over the next few years. I'd be all in on individual bonds if not for the fact they're not call protected. FXNAX rounds things out with some other bond sectors. I do have a position of ANGL in this account, which I think I'll move to my higher-risk portfolio. For equities I have a substantial chunk in defensive sectors that tend to outperform the broader market during recessions - consumer staples (VDC) and utilities (XLU). The utilities position I think may have some additional upside if electric demand increases in the future by means of data centers, electric vehicles, etc. Then I also have some dividend-oriented (and sub-1.0 beta) positions of HDV and SCHD. The goal of that equity blend is to lean heavily into defensive sectors and avoid economically sensitive sectors like tech and consumer cyclicals.
Thanks for your input! I too 'farm' good-performing ETFs for their best-performing holdings. Did that a couple months ago with XLU, Utilities, and more recently with XME, Metals. Though in both cases also playing the ETFs. Very interesting comment about 10% off their highs, because that's a criterion in Yuen's book. Is that a commonly-held belief, or did you by chance get it from him? I don't have the patience to wait, or the faith in myself to decide when a correction is over, so I just go in when the charts look good. "Buy high and sell higher," that kind of thing.
XLU, I should've figured that out. I was actually trading the PMCC against it from 7/15 to 8/29, but got out after it had rolled over. I'm still trading some of its constituents though: EXC, DUK, AEP [This ](https://optionsamurai.com/blog/zebra-option-strategy/)is a good explainer of ZEBRAs. No affiliation with the website.
Duh. A moment of dyslexia. I meant XLU, the s&p utilities ETF. I've not heard of the zebra thing. Definitely going to spend some time on that. Thanks.
Looking to hedge my heavy growth portfolio with utility. Thoughts on XLU and Q4?
The utilities are heavily influenced by the XLU Wed which usually drives the most volume on the individual stock… utilities have all done well as of late and typically see a bump with interest rate cuts as they are dividends payers .
I’m long a September 30 QQQ put spread; 550/525. Now, I’ve lost more than 1/3 of my purchase price but in addition to a full allocation in GDX I’m comfortable in holding onto my longs which I call the best of breed stocks in software, semi’s; WMT, UBER, META, NVDA. Oh, can’t forget TJX , XLU & XLC. And so it goes.
I wanted to thank you for the great advice you gave here to a newbie. ETFs are indeed the best place to start, whether buying shares or doing something with options, or both. And I wanted to say you're a man after my own heart: I do PMCCs also, and have two on XLU (and some of its better-performing holdings), and I sometimes trade KO too.
The answer is yes, there are times ITM covered calls are appropriate. But this isn't it. In fact, if you don't have experience, I would not start with NVDA. I would definitely not start with NVDA at earnings. Yuck. Exposed to all the downside and little to none of the upside. Consider starting with something a little more sedate. Coca Cola (KO) is a favorite low key of mine. Low premiums, but the stock tends to behave itself. In fact, I roll PMCCs a lot and I still will bring KO into the stable from time to time because while it's not a huge producer, it is a steady producer. An index ETF can work too. Consider IWM (russell 2000 index) or XLU (S&P 500 utilities). They're going to be more sedate with less short term movement potential.
Yep, the strike that's at 30-delta (or less) \~30 days out. I don't trade "extremely volatile" stocks, and maybe you shouldn't either. At least not for the PMCC. Because really, most of the gains are to be made in the appreciation of the LEAPS Call (think doubling or more in a year). The CCs are just gravy. And if you don't know: ***a Call holder won't exercise if there's ANY extrinsic value left in the option.*** (Barring "dividend capture," you can look that up.) Because to do so would be to forfeit that extrinsic value. So if you're selling 30DTE, you have plenty of time to react to a big move in the underlying. Pick a volatile ticker and go look at a somewhat ITM Call about 2 weeks out; see how much extrinsic value it has? The Call holder/owner would forfeit that if they exercised. Anyway, you don't high IV to make money with the PMCC. Think boring things like XLK, XLU, DUK, EXC, MSFT.
Hi, I'm probably not the norm when it comes to managing the long legs. I think you'll find that there's a general consensus to sell long Calls by 2-3 months before expiration. Because that's when theta decay really starts to kick in. And/or perhaps you set a profit target for yourself, as with any other trade? 50%? That's up to you to decide. What \*I\* do (not financial advice, yada yada) is take profit out of them along the way. How? By rolling them UP as they appreciate and go deeper ITM (delta goes up). If you're buying LEAPS in a taxable acct, don't do that, because you should hold them for a year so the gains are taxed at the Long Term rate. But in a tax-advantaged acct, you can buy and sell LEAPS with no tax repercussions. It's AH, so maybe you'll see this tonight and be able to follow along in the option chain: Say you owned a Call for XLU, the Utilities sector ETF. Say it's the Dec2026 73C. What's its Delta? It's 0.84, 84-delta. I would've bought that rascal at 80-delta, so what's happened is that XLU moved up, so that strike has gone deeper ITM. Its Delta went up. Well, I could hold onto it for 492 more days and see what it does. (Actually, 432 more days, because I'd want to sell it by 60DTE.) At that time it might be worth double what it is now, or whatever. OR: I can sell it now for 16.00 at Midpoint and, Buy the 75C at 81-delta for 14.38. I still own a call at least a year out, and it's at 81-delta, so it meets my 80-delta rule, AND I pocket the price difference as profit: 16.00 - 14.38 = 1.62, or $162 Then I keep watching it, and if that opportunity presents itself again (the ability to roll UP to 80-delta), I'd do it again. And I haven't had to do this yet, but when that Call gets <1y, my plan is to roll it OUT to a >1y expiration. Does that all make sense? I see it as taking profit out along the way, rather than waiting until the end. Plus I keep my Calls continually a year out, where they're a bit less influenced by the stock's price than shorter-term Calls. AND, it frees up profit capital to deploy into other LEAPS Calls. Same ticker or a different one.
Regardless of if AI makes money…. It uses electricity. I think utilities are probably the about the best risk adjusted return you can find. Buy XLU on Margin and chillllll.
Shouldn't you want to be buying XLU, rather than XLE? - I mean, XLE is more composed with Oil & Gas companies, which is dependent on oil price, OPEC, etc... XLU contains the utility companies that people pay for energy, and is more diversified across different types of electricity generation, etc
Take a lesson from the stock market in the year 2000 (peak of the internet stock bubble) and what did well from 2000-2003 during the tech crash. Rotation into more value-based stocks in Finance, Energy, Utilities, and Health Care. Check out the holding lists from value-tilted ETFs like MOAT and SPGP to get some ideas. During a rotation to value, you can never go wrong with BRKB-its already on the upswing. If you want less risk than individual stocks then try the sector ETFs of XLF, XLE, XLU, and XLV. Looking at the ratio percent change of XLK(technology sector) vs XLV(health care sector) over a period of time can give you an idea of how much rotation is going on into value. This past week (7/26) the ratio is over 10.
You're welcome. I hope you do read and understand it. And since you're open to "using ETF's that people have recommended," have a look at Utilities, XLU, and Tech-Software, IGV. Also IAU, although gold has been flat since April. With any or all of those, work out how much leverage you'd get from buying a Call at 80-delta a year or more out. (And adjust that for Delta.) Then look up how much, in dollars, each ETF has gone up in the last month: if they did that again, how much would the Call be worth? And then what percentage gain would that be? That should open your eyes to the beauty of DITM long Calls. Then for bonus points, find the Call to sell at 30-delta or less and at least 30 days out. What is its Premium? That's how many dollars, times 100, you'd get paid for selling it. And what's the ROI on that? (Premium over cost of the long Call.) Then annualize that: divide by the short Call's DTE and multiply by 365. If you do the math right, the numbers should pretty much amaze you. Let me know if/when you have questions.
I’m long XLU for my power fix; Nextera, Constellation Energy, Duke Power, and other biggies
A bit of a stodgy Utilities play, a 512DTE 71C on XLU. But it's giving 4.5x leverage, delta-adjusted. A 30-delta, 30DTE short 86.5C sold against it yesterday is paying 52% apy.
Very good question. When I said I’m ignoring energy I should have said oil drillers and oil service companies. But, the electric grid needs help and AI is indeed forcing up all electric costs as demand for electricity increases. I am long XLU which includes Constellation energy, Nextera energy, Duke power, etc. Thanks.
Not touching OPEN unless it sells all the way to flat. Looking at BBAI and OKLO early on though. Maybe some XLU calls based on the volume flow on friday
From a research firm: > The markets have been grinding higher over the past couple of weeks as investors are becoming increasingly optimistic on the global economic outlook. We have seen hotter-than-expected US inflation prints and other market headlines that normally would have triggered a sharp sell off, but we are currently seeing a relentless bid for stocks. This resilience likely reflects underlying demand from investors who stepped away during the April pullback, moved into cash or bonds, or rotated into international equities. Now, many are gradually moving back into US stocks, contributing to the persistent upside pressure. Earnings season is upon us, and in this market update, we want to talk about early signs of froth in the market, and some bellwethers that we are watching. > Early Signs of Froth? The FOMO Trade >In recent weeks, we have been noticing some early signs of froth in the markets, particularly through a shift in market tone driven by a resurgence in thematic investing. This is loosely defined by an increase in investor risk appetite, as themes like drones and defense tech, crypto, space exploration, AI data center infrastructure, and quantum computing are gaining strong momentum. This is not to say that the momentum can’t continue, or that there aren’t valid reasons behind the moves, but clearly, animal spirits are returning. Historically, we have noticed that these types of environments often precede a “melt-up” phase in the markets, driven by a consistent bid in risk assets as cash flees from bonds, high-interest savings vehicles, dividend stocks, and defensives like consumer staples names. > What We Are Watching > Melt-ups, periods of narrative-driven investing, and a risk on appetite are generally periods where investors can see large unrealized profits, and this is where we like to remind investors to watch position sizing. As large-cap, blue chip names may rise steadily, higher-growth and more speculative stocks can significantly outpace, leading to overconcentration in riskier exposures. This is where it becomes vital to keep an eye on portfolio weightings, and how much of one’s portfolio is ‘out the risk curve’. While we do see some signs of early froth, we do believe that it is still early, and we feel there is more upside in the markets from here. Although, the environments where narrative-driven investing and risk appetite increase are historically associated with late-cycle behaviour. If we are in the early parts of a melt-up, there are a few bellwethers that we are watching to help indicate how far along we are in the cycle. > 1. Risk-On / Risk Off: Tech vs. Utilities (XLK/XLU) > In this chart, we are looking at the relative performance of the US tech sector (XLK) to the US utilities sector (XLU). The tech sector is well-known for its high-growth properties, whereas utilities are known to be more stable and defensive. We can see a few noteworthy items in the chart, the first is that the relative performance (top pane) has areas of support where this marked a bottom in the broader markets. We also note that the broader markets, the S&P 500, traditionally has not made a cycle top unless the relative performance of tech to utilities has made a new high. So far, the tech/utilities relative performance has not made a new high since early 2024. This helps indicate to us that there is likely still upside potential in the broader markets. >2. US Regional Banks > The performance of US regional banks (KRE) is often a telling barometer of risk-on sentiment in the financial markets. When regional banks make new highs, it typically reflects broad investor confidence in the real economy, credit conditions, and liquidity. Regional banks are closely tied to credit cycles, and strong performance indicates that credit is flowing. Historically, we have seen cycle tops take place where the US Regional banks have made a new all-time high. So far, we have yet to see this happen. The recent trend for regional banks is up and to the right, but they have not yet made new highs. This is another indicator to us that risk appetite can continue to improve. >3. US Small-Caps >The Russell 2000 (IWM) tracks 2000 US small-cap stocks, and this index is one of the most sensitive gauges of investor risk appetite. When small caps outperform or break to new highs, it typically signals broad-based optimism about growth, earnings, and liquidity. So far, the small-cap index has not made a new high, and again, this gives us an indication that risk appetite has room to increase. >Overall, it is difficult to discern if we truly will enter a melt-up period, but we believe we are seeing early signs of a melt-up market, and these periods tend to be associated with lots of opportunities in the markets, but also reason for caution and watching individual portfolio weightings. We believe this is where it becomes increasingly important to ‘pick spots’ in the market to allocate capital to, and to watch for any sector or individual stock overconcentration’s in a portfolio. The markets are a function of risk and reward, fear and greed, and this is where it becomes critical to be hyper-diligent in portfolio composition. There is always a bull market somewhere, and we feel that there will be lots of opportunities ahead.
I'm thinking XLU calls into monday
CPER, PALL, SLV, IBIT, MOO, URA, XLU - That's what I have and looking for similar others next week. Maybe Australia as it's a commodity country. I'd say Canada but they're having a few problems to deal with right now.
> $XLU is down YTD XLU is +7.8% YTD, and is a good chunk of my defensive/short-term portfolio.
I occasionally wheel the XLU SELECT SECTOR UTI SELECT SPDR. Closed at $81.72 on Thursday. OER is 8bps. 2,79 distribution yield. With all the planning of new AI data centers, there's been a lot of focus on gas and electric utilities. Something to analyze to see if it works for you.
Anything that has run up a ton these last 3 months is getting hammered. Rotation into safety (WMT, BRK, GLD, AAPL, XLU, SCHD)
I usually watch $VIX, bonds, DXY, and sector flow. If VIX is rising, yields are falling (TLT up), and defensives like XLU/XLP are outperforming, it’s usually a sign of a risk-off tone. Around June 28–30, we had exactly that — made me more confident leaning bearish on TSLA. If you want to know more, you can chat with me.
Small position in the s&p 500, largest position in gold. A few thousand bucks thrown at uranium ETFs. A large position in China ETFS. a few thousand in TLT. All these positions started 3 years ago. Seems like no matter what news comes out my overall account goes up due one thing outweighing the other. I have smaller IRA accounts where I can buy individual stocks. I tried a few options and it all went bad. So I promised myself to only buy shares, it's going alot better now. Trying not to sell unless I REALLLLY think something has stopped out. I.e. I had an XLU position I started at $56 and sold at $80. I'm still happy with that decision. I bought PLTR at 7 and sold at 36.. I'm much less happy with that decusion
Nice! I went 30% cash today and opened a ten percent Lockheed Martin. I also bought calls on the XLU thinking "defensive", but this might be a sell everything rally
I saw that fat candle on XLU and bought a bakers dozen ITM calls. Godspeed
Emyshorts, exactly what’s happened. The bids came into the market immediately at and after the lower opening. VIX has sold off 7 1/2% from the opening high. The $$$ continues to come into anything AI related, the semis are on a ridiculous tear, dem for electricity has the XLU up most days. Golds bid today is not to be ignored however.
If you really want it to be all-weather-ish, I would reduce the stock allocation. You should know that utilities are no longer considered "boring" "safe" stocks - if they were ever. I would also increase your gold + commodities allocation a little bit. Replace XLU or AVDV with something that can work in a long-term inflation environment, or, in a falling dollar value environment.
> so I want to rebalance my portfolio to protect against this possibility, in the short term. Here's the critical question: Is there a high likelihood you will need this money in the short term? Can you even *access* this money short term? Like if it's in an IRA and you're years away from 59.5, not so much. In any event let's assume that this is in fact an account with short-term goals. Certain sectors are less economically sensitive than others. Utilities (XLU) and consumer staples (VDC) are examples; still gotta buy paper towels and pay the electric bill, even in a recession. Dividend stocks can be lower volatility than the market on the whole. SCHD is one. HDV has an even lower beta IIRC. Bonds are certainly a thing, lot of different options there. TIPS would protect against inflation. Long treasuries (TLT) could be a hedge against rates being cut. For my short-term pool account I do roughly 1/3 each of low-volatility/defensive equities, bonds, and cash (money market). But that's just me. For my long-term accounts I just stay invested.
EWW, XLU, and XLP have kept me ahead of sp500. I just don’t know when to rotate to the next theme, I am very apprehensive here.
Almost everything is overbought. Why not start off with something safe and recession-friendly like XLU?
it seems like the tech sector is not, but rather XLV and XLU is pumping hard today, very bearish it seems and XLK the top holdings supposedly, are not at -.32% hmmm
Wish I had bought calls on GLD and XLU. Both look ready to go higher
> Honestly I’d like some higher potential returns To what end? What do you see using this money for? All retirement, nothing in between? I have different accounts for different goals. Hell you can have multiple *taxable* accounts for different goals. For example I have a short-ish term account for discretionary spending. "Fun money." Where I'm willing to *give up* some total return in exchange for lower volatility. Plenty of un-invested cash parked in the money market sweep position, and equity ETFs in defensive sectors, or high-quality dividend-paying companies. XLU, IYK, HDV, that sort of thing. Folks on this sub tend to bemoan dividend-oriented ETFs and make valid points on total returns making the most difference. Which is true... *in the long run.* But some of those sector and thematic ETFs, again you can get the benefit of less volatility and better performance in a recession, in exchange for giving up some long-term total return.
learn about market sectors and where the current rotation is. looking at the SP500 weekly 50WMA, we are in a bear market, so equities is not a good place tobe. The rotation right now is in metals, BTC, and international stocks, and defensives, because DXY is getting hammered, bonds are getting dumped because of tariffs wars. Yields are still high, so bonds may be a good place to park cash. Gold is overbought and retracted a bit, but looks like it may continue up. Some investors want gold futures to retract to 3200 before jumping in again. Look at gdx. Defensives are another place to move into, like XLP, XLU, XLV etf's.
Nothing great, for sure. International markets are performing better than US ones, and they're up YTD while US is down quite a lot. So that's an option. I like developed markets, so something like VEA or VGK for just European markets. In the US, some sectors haven't fallen quite as much as others. Consumer defensive is up a bit and utilities are flat. XLP and XLU are funds that cover those sectors. International fixed income is also doing pretty well right now. Funds like EMLC, WIP, BWZ, and that cohort of funds. And preferred shares haven't been hit as hard. VRP is a fund in this class that I like. Preferred shares are definitely more of an income investment, though. Not a growth opportunity. But they tend to do a good job at holding value. But everything is subject to sudden reversals, so nothing is particularly safe.
GLD TLT XLP XLU Soft commodities. Shorts and puts.
Shift your allocations to non us exposed indexes such as $VXUS. Or, shift to commodities/utilities. For example, $XLU is my utility one, even if the economy fully dies.. people will still pay for water, electricity, food and gas.
Lots of stocks & ETF's have low RSI (15 days, 75, 35) numbers (oversold). Personally I like the financial sector (XLF), aerospace (XAR) and some Utilities (XLU). I know .. lots of X's... Kinda my "kleenex" version of ETF's. But.... I also buy and sell a lot lately. The market feels a little chaotic for some reason.
When hedges against recession like utilities take a dive (as they recently have done) and Interest rates are this low it's time to hold onto cash. Just watch XLU. If interest rates remain low and the utilities sector becomes less volatile personally I think it's an opportunity to jump back into more volatile markets again.
Gold, miners, XLP/ XLU/ XLE.
Look at the holdings of XLF, KRE and XLU.... Good bets... Slowly buy in...
Wait a few weeks for the turmoil to abate. Recession is likely. Look at companies during this time that are resistant. GILD has one of the best HIV drugs…. Used car companies? KMX, CRVA …. Even a boring utilities etf. XLU.
TLT GLD PG KO XOM XLU XLP Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
the power will come from utilities (XLU) is up like 10.75% / year over the last 5 years, for a market that trades like a bond. thats the move. your nuclear play is pointless, since theres not a lot of nuclear development in the pipeline and its 10y easier to build a gas fired power plant, so thats what will be built. make a bet on nat gas or on gas utilities.
utilities etfs like IDU / XLU a buy overnight
I'm 90% cash. I will buy after Finance, Energy and other defensive stocks (or ETFs - XLF, XLE, XLU?) and ETFs fall below the RSI of 35 for a week or two. RSI= (15 days, 75, 35).
Given the political landscape in the US, consider international stock ETFs (e.g. VEA, IEFA). If you stay domestic then utilities (XLU), healthcare (XLV) and consumer staples (XLP) would be less volatile options. Nobody has a magic ball... cash may be a good short term strategy if you subscribe to the idea that Trump is being wreckless (and not slowing down his antics).
The next support level for $QQQ looks to be around 446.90. I still would not buy the $QQQ stocks until we touch the long term 200 DMA around 383.17. Diversify people. Do you own Gold or US Treasuries? $XLU utilities fund appears to have found support at it's 200 DMA. I've never understood why people want to only own stocks that move in the same direction at the same time.
up 7.8%...I am only holding XLU and BRK in the US at the moment. I had a good run with a few positions in Euro defense early and inverse positions in TSLA/QQQ for about 2 weeks.
BRK.B, PPL, ABBV, GSK, MRK, MMM OXY, T, VZ & XLU. Ugly day overall.
I have need doing this for past few years and it worked for me . But I mainly do with ETS IVV , VGT, XLE , XLU , GLD and KCE. Just buy if the price is below 1% . I have no of shared lots assigned for each ETF . For example if IVV goes down by 1 % the I buy 2 shares, if IVV goes down by 2 % then I buy 4 shares . This has worked for me to accumulate these ETF at reasonable price.
I just doubled my position in Kraft Heinz lol Also looking at Allstate, Pepsi, buying the XLU or XLV outright, the TLT(which is coming back down to a buy zone), XOM, and some other boring shit lol. If QQQ makes a solid close under the 200, I'll probably open some long term puts
It's not sexy, but if you look at XLU (utilities sector SPDR) vs SPY since inception on total return, XLU hangs pretty close, with literally all of the current SPY outperformance within the last 4 years of clown market. XLU total return actually outperformed SPY post-great financial crisis until 2021.
XLU up that much in afterhours tells me all I need to know