Sector ETF Portfolios: Invest in the Necessities of Life with Consumer Staples Select Sect. SPDR (XLP)

"Word is that retailers will be having a very cold holiday season this year. In fact, MasterCard has noted that sales of apparel, shoes, and appliances dropped considerably in the first two weeks of November. Consumers are being a little thriftier when it comes to extras as they're worried about unemployment and the recent news of a financial crisis. But no matter what's going on in the economy, there are just things that people need, staple items.

An investment in staples means you're banking on something that people are always going to need and will always purchase, no matter what the economy forecast is. Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLP) is an excellent way to invest in a variety of staples in one single investment purchase".

XLP charges a mere 0.23% fee for building a basket of the largest 41 staple providers.
The top 10 holdings are listed below and they comprise about 67% of the entire holdings.

Procter & Gamble Co. 18.16%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 12.60%
Philip Morris 8.77%
Coca-Cola Co. 5.34%
CVS Caremark Corp. 4.71%
Kraft Foods Inc. 4.21%
PepsiCo Inc. 4.21%
Colgate-Palmolive Co. 3.36%
Altria Group Inc. 3.25%
Walgreen Co. 2.82%

Bloggingstocks

The chart is interesting. XLP is attempting the breakout of the descending trendline after a long congestion.