CHICAGO, Dec. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the Market Vectors Retail ETF (AMEX:RTH-Free Report), Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN-Free Report), Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (AMEX:VCR-Free Report), Comcast (Nasdaq:CMCSA-Free Report) and Guggenheim S&P Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF (AMEX:RCD-Free Report).
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Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:
3 ETFs for This Holiday Season
Investors seeking to tap the holiday promotional benefits could consider the following ETFs:
Market Vectors Retail ETF (AMEX:RTH-Free Report)
This fund provides exposure to the 26 largest retail firms by tracking the Market Vectors US Listed Retail 25 Index. One of the top three holdings includes Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN-Free Report).
The ETF has a certain tilt toward growth stocks, accounting for half of the portfolio, while sector wise, specialty retail has one-third share. Other sectors such as hypermarkets, departmental stores and healthcare services take double-digit exposure (read: The Comprehensive Guide to Retail ETFs).
The product has amassed $51.6 million in its asset base and charges 35 bps in annual fees. Volume is low as it exchanges nearly 49,000 shares per day in hand. The fund gained over 35% in the year-to-date time frame and has a further room for upside given the Zacks ETF Rank of 2 or 'Buy' rating with a 'Low' risk outlook.
Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (AMEX:VCR-Free Report)
This ETF follows the MSCI U.S. Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index and provides exposure to the broad consumer discretionary sector. This is by far the cheapest choice in the space, charging investors 14 bps a year in fees while having solid volume levels. The product has managed $1.2 billion in AUM so far.
In total, the fund holds a large basket of 373 stocks with 74% allocated to large caps while mid and large caps take the remainder. The product is widely spread across a number of sectors and securities with a definite tilt toward growth stocks. Each security holds less than 5% of total assets with Comcast (Nasdaq:CMCSA-Free Report) one of the top three holdings (read: all the Consumer Discretionary ETFs here).
From a sector look, specialty retail accounts for one-fifth share while movies & entertainment, cable & satellite, restaurants and internet retail make up for nearly 10% each. The fund added nearly 36% so far this year and has a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 or 'Buy' rating with a 'Medium' risk outlook.
Guggenheim S&P Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF (AMEX:RCD-Free Report)
This fund offers exposure across the consumer discretionary market with an equal weight methodology (read: Overweight These Equal Weight ETFs in Your Portfolio). It tracks the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index Consumer Discretionary index and holds of 83 securities in its basket. The fund has amassed $125.5 million in AUM while volume is a light. It charges a higher annual fee of 50 bps from investors.
Though large caps make up for 67% share in the fund's portfolio, mid caps take the remaining portion and only 2% goes to small caps. Furthermore, the fund focuses on growth stocks with more than half exposure.
In terms of industries, specialty retail takes the top spot at roughly one-fifth of the total, followed by modest allocations to media and hotel restaurants. RCD is up over 36.5% in the year-to-date time frame and is poised to move higher further. This is especially true as the ETF has a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 or 'Strong Buy' rating with a 'High' risk outlook.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
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