Walmart and Costco Are 1/3 of XLP’s Defensive Portfolio, Creating A Huge Risk For A Defensive Holding

Quick Read Consumer Staples ETF (XLP) returned 15.2% year-to-date. XLP’s top three holdings Walmart, Costco and P&G represent 28.73% of assets. Walmart posted 20.2% year-to-date returns. Costco gained 18.3% and PepsiCo added 15.6% while P&G lagged. Retail sales grew 3.3% to $735B in December despite consumer sentiment at a pessimistic 52.9. A recent study identified one single habit that doubled Americans’ retirement savings and moved retirement from dream, to reality. Read more here. The consum ...