ETF Spotlight on Vanguard Consumer Discretionary (NYSEArca: VCR), part of a weekly series.

Assets: $152.5 million

Objective: Tracks the MSCI U.S. Investable Market Consumer Discretionary Index.

Holdings: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), Target (NYSE: TGT) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX).

What to Know

• Low expense ratio 0f 0.25%
• Holds 383 companies across the consumer discretionary sector

The Latest News

• Black Friday is just around the corner, and shoppers are feeling less frightened than they were last year. After all, just before the holidays in 2008, the recession hit with full force and consumer fear was at its apex. This year, those concerns have leveled off somewhat. The National Retail Federation predicts a 1% holiday sales increase from last year.
• For some retailers, Black Friday has already begun. Amazon started Black Friday pricing on Monday, while many brick-and-mortar stores will be extending their sales through the weekend, rather than for just a few hours on Friday.
• This year’s must-have toy is a little $10 robotic hamster known as the Zhu Zhu Pet. Its popularity is an indicator of where consumers are at these days: they want things at a bargain price.

Tags: ETF 101, ETF Spotlight, Retail, Sector ETFs, VCR