Is State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Core Insights - The State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) is a smart beta ETF launched on June 19, 2006, designed to provide broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary sector [1] - XRT has accumulated over $284.35 million in assets, making it one of the larger ETFs in its category [5] - The fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P Retail Select Industry Index, which is a modified equal weight index representing the retail sub-industry of the S&P Total Market Index [6] Fund Characteristics - XRT has an annual operating expense ratio of 0.35%, positioning it as one of the cheaper options in the ETF space [7] - The fund offers a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.33% [7] - The portfolio is heavily allocated to the Consumer Discretionary sector, comprising approximately 78.7% of total assets [8] Holdings and Performance - Etsy Inc (ETSY) is the largest holding, accounting for about 1.77% of total assets, with the top 10 holdings representing around 16.11% of total assets under management [9] - As of November 7, 2025, XRT has experienced a year-to-date loss of approximately -0.37% and a one-year increase of about 1.3% [11] - The fund has a beta of 1.24 and a standard deviation of 23.78% over the trailing three-year period, indicating medium risk [11] Alternatives - Alternatives to XRT include the Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY) and the VanEck Retail ETF (RTH), with respective assets of $147.61 million and $253.07 million [13] - IBUY has an expense ratio of 0.65%, while RTH has an expense ratio of 0.35% [13]