A Look Ahead: This Week's ETFs To Watch
Benzinga | Apr 29, 2013 12:44AM ET
Last week was another fine one for U.S. stocks as the broader market fought off an array of data points that can only be considered mixed at best to again close higher. With last week's 1.4 percent pop, the S&P 500 is now up 0.8 percent this month and has soared 2.8 percent since April. Still, there are causes for concern as the often ominous month of May lurks around the corner.
On Friday, the Commerce Department said U.S. GDP grew 2.5 percent in the first quarter, missing the consensus estimate of 3% growth. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of consumer confidence fell 2.8 percent to 76.4 in April. That reading is the same as April 2012. Economists expected a reading of 73.5.
Then again, the earnings flow looks decent. Profit at S&P 500 companies gained 1.1 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts' projections Bloomberg reported .
The thing is Gilead wants to go it alone when it comes to hepatitis C treatments. Both stocks are top-10 XLV holdings.
PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage Portfolio (PBJ)
The PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage Portfolios once toiled in obscurity, but now the ETF has $235 million in assets under management. PBJ has flourished this year for at least two reasons: Investors' thirst for defensive sectors and the theory that the ETF is home to Warren Buffett's next food industry takeover target.
Do not forget that PBJ is also chock full of high return on equity stocks. PBJ is up nearly eight percent since it was highlighted as an ideal way to get exposure to multiple Buffett targets. The good news is this ETF does not need takeovers to march higher. Investors have already shown a proclivity for defense names and that theme will continue to boost PBJ.
BY The ETF Professor
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