Active investing plays in consumer discretionary

Active investing plays in consumer discretionary strengthened after retail sales beat forecasts at +0.6% MoM. Apparel and online platforms are leading the rally, showing early Q3 demand resilience. Generally speaking the aim of active stock picking is to find companies that provide returns that are superior to the market average. And the truth is, you can make significant gains if you buy good quality businesses at the right price. For example, the AMMB Holdings Berhad ( KLSE:AMBANK ) share price is up 90% in the last 5 years, clearly besting the market return of around 10% (ignoring dividends). However, more recent returns haven't been as impressive as that, with the stock returning just 19% in the last year, including dividends. Jay Jacobs: Well, a lot of investors like to choose which factors their portfolio has exposure to based off of what economic environment they're in. For example, if we're an environment where you have rising rates and, uh, more concerns over the economy, something like quality stocks might do better. Active investing strategies are eyeing the breakout in gold above $2,350/oz. Market watchers view this as a hedge play amid mixed U.S. treasury yields, prompting allocation increases to metals ETFs.