

A handful of key economic data points dropped last week, painting a picture of an economy that is successfully downshifting from its recent inflation peaks even as consumers keep their footing.

According to the Census Bureau's Advance Retail Sales Report, consumer spending rose for a fifth straight month in June. Headline sales were up 0.2% as expected, marking a slowdown from May's 1.0% increase.

A smart beta exchange traded fund, the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) debuted on 06/19/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs category of the market.

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Retail segment of the equity market, the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on June 19, 2006.

PMET Demonstrates >97% Caesium Extraction from Pollucite Concentrate PR Newswire MONTREAL, July 12, 2026

Bernstein analyst Zhihan Ma said her top picks for the second quarter are those that cater to bargain hunters.

As summer takes shape, investors are navigating shifting monetary policy, stubborn inflation pressures, and unexpected market momentum.

According to the Census Bureau's Advance Retail Sales Report, consumer spending climbed for the fourth straight month in May. Headline sales rose 0.9%, almost double the projected 0.5% growth and marking an acceleration from April's 0.4% rise.