XLU Sector & Holdings

It's Sunday March 8, 2026 – News broke about oil prices rose, reaching $100 per barrel. This means that XLE will probably have a high green day tomorrow, I don't think we can say the same about XLU. Either way, I want to take a look at XLU and a some of its holdings.

Let's start with analyzing XLU before dying into its subparts:

Looking at the chart above, I've defined a channel where the support is $46 and resistance is $47.35 - In here, XLU is performing below the SPY trend and has for almost a month. Interestingly enough, this has not entirely been impacted by the geopolitical issues as much, so not much of a "safety net" for investment from my point of view. While the XLU sector as a whole feels stagnant, the individual holdings tell a different story. I'm finding that looking 'under the hood' at CEG and NEE reveals the volatility that the broader ETF is masking. The ETF changes by pennies day by day, which could mean "security" to some, but it doesn't move me at all. With that said, I'll move to some individual holdings in search of more volatility.

Let's look at at CEG

To start, I can't complain about lack of volatility with this one. We know that March 3 was a drop day for many stocks amid news, with this drop came a ~$16 change in value in one day - I've highlighted this with a yellow box above. At the same time, we see the same for recovery from opening to closing on March 3, a ~$10 change in recovery. It is volatile to say the least. Let's look at how CEG compares to both XLU and SPY.

First, in the below chart I am comparing CEG to XLU (the entire sector it is part of). We see a positive 8.12% relative strength, which indicates that CEG is performing better than the entire sector. Something I'd like to mention is that CEG makes up ~7.5% of XLU

Let's move on to how CEG compares to SPY

In the above, we can see CEG in comparison to SPY, as of today, CEG is underperforming, we see this -2.52% relative strength overall for a month. Either way, given its volatility, it makes me believe that CEG is a good stock for trading. Let's look at NEE, which contributes to XLU by 13%.

First NEE against XLU:

• NEE outperforms XLU by 7.62%
• It is not as volatile as CEG
• Steady relative strength since ~ February 25, 2026

Let's now understand NEE against SPY

Similarly to CEG, NEE is under SPY in relative strength by 2.52% - this can be a good thing. If I were to consider CEG and NEE as possible next trades, the two confirm that they are currently performing in harmony. They both outperform the entire sector and underperform SPY today. From this, I could expect the same behavior from the two stocks without having to look for other indicators.

Overall, while I haven't entirely decided what to invest on next, holdings within XLU seem more plausible than XLU as a sector. I'm not the greatest fan of it, I personally wouldn't take a trade I'm not a fan of. Either way, I will look at other holdings tomorrow and wait for Monday news and for the market to find its footing after the weekend. Tomorrow will be mostly an observation day from my end for holdings within XLU as well as SPY performance.