Has Consumer Escapism Helped ETFs?

February 08, 2009 at 1:00 pm by Max Chen

ETF Movies The masses are spending money on things to distract themselves from our economic headaches, and the entertainment industry, along with its exchange traded fund (ETF), should be elated.

Consumers found a way to escape the drudgeries of the mundane world by going to the movies and they helped generate a staggering $1.03 billion in revenue last month, nearly a 19% increase from last January, reports Lisa Girion for The Los Angeles Times.

Over the last weekend of January, it is estimated that $129 million was raked in by the theaters, or up 1% from the same time last year.

There are those who have complained about the price of movie tickets, but this did not stop them from going last month. The average ticket price was $7.29, up from $7.18 last year, and people seemed to have completely ignored the higher costs. Audiences bought 141 million movie tickets; whereas, in the same month last year 121 million tickets were sold.

Despite the surge in movie interest, PowerShares Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment Portfolio (PEJ) was down 6.6% in the last month.

ETF PEJ performance