It's definitely not retail, based on historical data
Retail has been the main focus of Wall Street ahead of the holiday season, but it turns out the retail sector has not been a top performer in December during the past 10 years. Instead, the media sector, represented by the PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio ETF (PBS) has done well in the month, according to data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.
PBS has closed the month in positive territory 70% of the time in the past 10 years, with an average return of 1.6%. The exchange-traded fund (ETF) is trading at $33.31 today, pacing for its highest close since early August.
Among individual stocks, CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) has typically been strong in December, adding 2.7% on average during the past 10 years. It's also been higher 80% of the time. CBS shares were last seen at $40.39, maintaining the uptrend that's been in place since the Oct. 31 seven-year low of $35.02. Also notice that Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) falls on this list of outperformers. The stock just hit a new high yesterday, and is on pace to close November with a 16.7% gain.
