State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF

XRT

Market cap $401M

Resiliency Is the Headline Thursday's market action can be summed up in one word: resiliency. Granddad Russell 2000, represented by IWM, held its 200-day moving average, showing surprising strength in small caps.

The Advance Retail Sales Report from the Census Bureau showed consumer spending was more robust than expected in February. Headline sales rose 0.6%, a step up from January's 0.1% decline and better than the projected 0.5% growth.

When Markets Disagree, Pay Attention In today's modern version of “Family Feud: Market Edition,” we're looking at a classic internal battle within the market: “Granny” Retail Sector and the consumer stocksvs.“Granddad” Russell 2000 and the small cap stocks When these two are aligned, markets tend to trend smoothly.

The retail industry could soon be taking the next hit from the Iran war's disruption to the global supply chain. Experts and analysts say the exact impacts are too early to determine, but the Strait of Hormuz closure could mean higher prices on the shelves for consumers.

Amid ongoing volatility in the crude oil trade, Mish Schneider is looking at technical levels in several key ETF products. She's closely monitoring the XRT Retail ETF with her eyes on a critical level at 81.50.

A smart beta exchange traded fund, the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) debuted on 06/19/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs category of the market.

U.S. consumer spending has remained resilient, but there is a growing divide in who is spending and what they're spending on. In what many economists describe as a K-shaped economy, higher-income households have continued to prosper, allowing them to spend freely, while lower-income consumers have scaled back as elevated prices, lagging incomes, and rising debt have taken a toll.

Launched on June 19, 2006, the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Retail segment of the equity market.

The latter half of the quarterly earnings season has been dominated by a heavy dose of retailer updates. Names reporting earnings include Walmart, Target, and other mainstay consumer discretionary retailers.

The Advance Retail Sales Report from the Census Bureau showed consumer spending was down less than feared in January. Headline sales slipped 0.2%, a step down from December's flat reading but better than the projected 0.3% decline.