The retail sales picture didn’t change much last month, but exchange traded fund (ETF) investors don’t appear to be so discouraged.
Despite retailers reporting the weakest March sales in 13 years, retail ETFs were up more than 2% midday. The usual suspects contributed to slow sales: slumping economy and high food and energy prices, reports Anne D’Innocenzio for the Associated Press.
As evidence that consumers were sticking to the necessities and looking for bargains – Wal-Mart (WMT) and Costco (COST) were the strongest performers.