Vitalie Ciobanu - TradeTheTrend

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – Summary

January 18, 2026

If you’re new to this post, start with the first post explaining the “Trade the Trend” Strategy. approach.

In early December 2025, SPDR redesigned its website and removed the monthly sector performance tracking feature, so December’s data is unavailable. Still, I briefly analyzed performance using the data from January through November 2025.

Investment Overview

Investing monthly across the 11 Sector SPDR ETFs, the total amount invested was $11,084.

Sector Allocation Summary

ETF	Sector	Total Invested	% of Portfolio
XLB	Materials	754.76	6.81%
XLC	Communication Services	1,100.05	9.93%
XLE	Energy	971.70	8.77%
XLF	Financials	875.60	7.90%
XLI	Industrials	1,139.35	10.28%
XLK	Technology	1,391.66	12.55%
XLP	Consumer Staples	862.99	7.78%
XLRE	Real Estate	683.95	6.17%
XLU	Utilities	1,193.36	10.77%
XLV	Health Care	1,055.15	9.52%
XLY	Consumer Discretionary	1,055.75	9.53%
	Total	11,084.31	100%

Monthly investments:

End-of-Year Portfolio Performance

The portfolio’s cost basis stands at $11,191.08, with an unrealized gain of $943.08, representing +8.43%.

Dividends for 2025 are reported in the demo account only from July onward and were not reinvested. The reported dividend figures below reflect the available timeframe (July-December) rather than a full-year total.

Best and Worst Performing Sectors

Top Performers

XLK (Technology)
XLC (Comm Services)
XLV (Health Care)
XLI (Industrials)

Underperformers

XLP (Consumer Staples)
XLRE (Real Estate)

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – November 2025 update

November 10, 2025

If you’re new to this post, please check the first post to know what this is about.

Sector SPDR ETFs page was updated with October data, so it’s time to update our numbers and buy more participations to the ETFs.

This is how the portfolio looks like as of October 8th close:

Based on the manual monthly investment ranking process, these are the investment amounts I’ll be placing orders for this month.

Updated	Symbol	Sector	1 Month	Rank	Monthly investment
10-Nov-25	XLK	Technology	6.58%	1	200.00
10-Nov-25	XLV	Health Care	3.57%	2	180.00
10-Nov-25	XLU	Utilities	2.10%	3	150.00
10-Nov-25	XLI	Industrials	0.47%	4	120.00
10-Nov-25	XLY	Consumer Discretionary	0.08%	5	100.00
10-Nov-25	XLE	Energy	-1.39%	6	80.00
10-Nov-25	XLP	Consumer Staples	-2.68%	7	70.00
10-Nov-25	XLF	Financials	-2.84%	8	40.00
10-Nov-25	XLC	Communication Services	-3.02%	9	30.00
10-Nov-25	XLRE	Real Estate	-3.02%	10	20.00
10-Nov-25	XLB	Materials	-4.48%	11	10.00

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – October 2025 update

October 8, 2025

If you’re new to this post, please check the first post to know what this is about.

Sector SPDR ETFs page was updated with September data, so it’s time to update our numbers and buy more participations to the ETFs.

This is how the portfolio looks like as of October 8th close:

Based on the manual monthly investment ranking process, these are the investment amounts I’ll be placing orders for this month.

Updated	Symbol	Sector	1 Month	Rank	Monthly investment
8-Oct-25	XLK	Technology	7.62%	1	200.00
8-Oct-25	XLC	Communication Services	6.69%	2	180.00
8-Oct-25	XLU	Utilities	4.13%	3	150.00
8-Oct-25	XLY	Consumer Discretionary	3.62%	4	120.00
8-Oct-25	XLI	Industrials	1.94%	5	100.00
8-Oct-25	XLV	Health Care	1.78%	6	80.00
8-Oct-25	XLRE	Real Estate	0.41%	7	70.00
8-Oct-25	XLF	Financials	0.14%	8	40.00
8-Oct-25	XLE	Energy	-0.27%	9	30.00
8-Oct-25	XLP	Consumer Staples	-2.27%	10	20.00
8-Oct-25	XLB	Materials	-2.36%	11	10.00

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – September 2025 update

September 12, 2025

If you’re new to this post, please check the first post to know what this is about.

Sector SPDR ETFs page was updated with August data, so it’s time to update our numbers and buy more participations to the ETFs.

This is how the portfolio looks like as of September 11th close:

Based on the manual monthly investment ranking process, these are the investment amounts I’ll be placing orders for this month.

Updated	Symbol	Sector	1 Month	Rank	Monthly investment
12-Sep-25	XLV	Health Care	5.37%	1	200
12-Sep-25	XLB	Materials	5.16%	2	180
12-Sep-25	XLY	Consumer Discretionary	4.65%	3	150
12-Sep-25	XLC	Communication Services	3.65%	4	120
12-Sep-25	XLE	Energy	3.61%	5	100
12-Sep-25	XLF	Financials	3.11%	6	80
12-Sep-25	XLRE	Real Estate	2.17%	7	70
12-Sep-25	XLP	Consumer Staples	1.23%	8	40
12-Sep-25	XLI	Industrials	0.00%	9	30
12-Sep-25	XLK	Technology	-0.03%	10	20
12-Sep-25	XLU	Utilities	-1.59%	11	10

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – August 2025 update

August 13, 2025

If you’re new to this post, please check the first post to know what this is about.

Sector SPDR ETFs page was updated with July data, so it’s time to update our numbers and buy more participations to the ETFs.

This is how the portfolio looks like as of August 12th close:

Based on the manual monthly investment ranking process, these are the investment amounts I’ll be placing orders for this month.

Updated	Symbol	Sector	1 Month	Rank 1 Month	Monthly investment
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Utilities	4.93%	1	200.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Technology	3.63%	2	180.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Industrials	3.00%	3	150.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Energy	2.80%	4	120.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Consumer Discretionary	1.85%	5	100.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Financials	-0.05%	6	80.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Materials	-0.09%	7	70.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Real Estate	-0.10%	8	40.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Communication Services	-1.01%	9	30.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Consumer Staples	-1.49%	10	20.00
13-Jul-25	31-07-25	Health Care	-3.26%	11	10.00

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – July 2025 update

July 10, 2025

If you’re new to this post, please check the first post to know what this is about.

Sector SPDR ETFs page was updated with June data, so it’s time to update our numbers and buy more participations to the ETFs.

This is how the portfolio looks like as of July 9th close:

Based on the manual monthly investment ranking process, these are the investment amounts I’ll be placing orders for this month.

Updated	Symbol	Sector	1 Month	Rank 1 Month	Monthly investment
30-06-25	XLK	Technology	9.70%	1	200.00
30-06-25	XLC	Communication Services	7.12%	2	180.00
30-06-25	XLE	Energy	4.42%	3	150.00
30-06-25	XLI	Industrials	3.44%	4	120.00
30-06-25	XLF	Financials	3.04%	5	100.00
30-06-25	XLB	Materials	2.00%	6	80.00
30-06-25	XLV	Health Care	1.85%	7	70.00
30-06-25	XLY	Consumer Discretionary	1.70%	8	40.00
30-06-25	XLU	Utilities	0.03%	9	30.00
30-06-25	XLRE	Real Estate	-0.21%	10	20.00
30-06-25	XLP	Consumer Staples	-1.87%	11	10.00

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – June 2025 update

June 10, 2025

If you’re new to this post, please check the first post to know what this is about.

Sector SPDR ETFs page was updated with May data, so it’s time to update our numbers and buy more participations to the ETFs.

This is how the portfolio looks like as of June 9th close:

Based on the manual monthly investment ranking process, these are the investment amounts I’ll be placing orders for this month.

Updated	Symbol	Sector	1 Month	Rank	Monthly investment
31-05-25	XLK	Technology	9.92%	1	200.00
31-05-25	XLI	Industrials	8.82%	2	180.00
31-05-25	XLY	Consumer Discretionary	8.48%	3	150.00
31-05-25	XLC	Communication Services	6.20%	4	120.00
31-05-25	XLF	Financials	4.42%	5	100.00
31-05-25	XLU	Utilities	3.88%	6	80.00
31-05-25	XLB	Materials	2.85%	7	70.00
31-05-25	XLE	Energy	1.38%	8	40.00
31-05-25	XLP	Consumer Staples	1.22%	9	30.00
31-05-25	XLRE	Real Estate	0.98%	10	20.00
31-05-25	XLV	Health Care	-5.54%	11	10.00

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – May 2025 update

May 9, 2025

If you’re new to this post, please check the first post to know what this is about.

Sector SPDR ETFs page was updated with April data, so it’s time to update our numbers and buy more participations to the ETFs.

This is how the portfolio looks like as of May 9th close:

Based on the manual monthly investment ranking process, these are the investment amounts I’ll be placing orders for this month.

Updated	Symbol	Sector	1 Month	Rank 1 Month	Monthly investment
30-04-25	XLK	Technology	1.82%	1	200.00
30-04-25	XLP	Consumer Staples	0.28%	2	180.00
30-04-25	XLI	Industrials	0.19%	3	150.00
30-04-25	XLU	Utilities	0.09%	4	120.00
30-04-25	XLY	Consumer Discretionary	-0.08%	5	100.00
30-04-25	XLC	Communication Services	-0.95%	6	80.00
30-04-25	XLRE	Real Estate	-1.21%	7	70.00
30-04-25	XLF	Financials	-2.08%	8	40.00
30-04-25	XLB	Materials	-2.33%	9	30.00
30-04-25	XLV	Health Care	-3.71%	10	20.00
30-04-25	XLE	Energy	-13.83%	11	10.00

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – April 2025 update

April 11, 2025

If you’re new to this post, please check the first post to know what this is about.

Sector SPDR ETFs page was updated with March data, so it’s time to update our numbers and buy more participations to the ETFs.

Since last update, here is how the portfolio looks like as of April 10th close (don’t forget about Trump’s tariffs messing up the markets lately 🙂 ):

Following the process of the manual monthly investment based on rank, here is how the SPDR ETFs looked like at the end of March 2025 and the monthly investment amount I will put orders for.

During this interesting tariffs-time, all but Energy and Utilities sectors were negative. This is a good time to buy 🙂

Updated	Symbol	Sector	1 Month	Rank	Monthly investment
31-03-25	XLE	Energy	3.45%	1	200
31-03-25	XLU	Utilities	0.26%	2	180
31-03-25	XLP	Consumer Staples	-1.15%	3	150
31-03-25	XLV	Health Care	-1.69%	4	120
31-03-25	XLRE	Real Estate	-2.42%	5	100
31-03-25	XLB	Materials	-2.73%	6	80
31-03-25	XLI	Industrials	-3.60%	7	70
31-03-25	XLF	Financials	-4.21%	8	40
31-03-25	XLC	Communication Services	-5.19%	9	30
31-03-25	XLY	Consumer Discretionary	-8.31%	10	20
31-03-25	XLK	Technology	-8.33%	11	10

Based on above table, I will proceed with buying the ETFs with the amounts listed in the Monthly investment column.

“Trade the Trend” Strategy – March 2025 update

March 11, 2025

If you’re new to this post, please check the first post to know what this is about.

Sector SPDR ETFs page was updated with February data, so it’s time to update our numbers and buy more participations to the ETFs.

Since last update, here is how the portfolio looks like as of yesterday’s close:

I’ve been thinking on how to distribute the weight better and found no automatic way to calculate the weight based on positive and negative returns. So, I decided to simplify this to the maximum by assigning a specific amount to each “rank”.

The company with the highest return in the previous month is ranked as 1st, the next one is 2nd and so on. Afterwards, the monthly investment amount is manually assigned as below:

Updated	Symbol	Sector	1 Month	Rank	Monthly investment
28-02-25	XLP	Consumer Staples	5.08%	1	200
28-02-25	XLRE	Real Estate	4.22%	2	180
28-02-25	XLE	Energy	3.79%	3	150
28-02-25	XLU	Utilities	1.68%	4	120
28-02-25	XLV	Health Care	1.48%	5	100
28-02-25	XLF	Financials	1.41%	6	80
28-02-25	XLB	Materials	-0.02%	7	70
28-02-25	XLC	Communication Services	-0.37%	8	40
28-02-25	XLI	Industrials	-1.44%	9	30
28-02-25	XLK	Technology	-2.26%	10	20
28-02-25	XLY	Consumer Discretionary	-7.02%	11	10