NewsDialy

Consumer discretionary stocks outpaced the S&P 500 by more than ten points over the past year

8/1/2026

The category of stocks tied to optional consumer spending beat the broader market over the past twelve months.

Optional consumer spending means purchases people make when budgets allow: clothing, home appliances, dining out, entertainment.

The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF, ticker RCD, returned 41.09% in that period. The S&P 500's total return over the same stretch came in at 31.13%.

Why these stocks follow the economy Consumer discretionary stocks are cyclical, meaning their prices tend to track economic cycles of expansion, peak, contraction and recovery.