Stock price when the opinion was issued
Owning staples is good for a volatile market. This ETF holds classic staples, is coming off a sideways range, and is a good place to hold money through the summer and also for recessionary times and lower markets. There are no big gains or losses but it is predictable and he knows where to sell it since he has traded it many many times. Familiarity with trading the same stocks frequently is important. It is also very liquid.
Rising interest rates have hurt all sectors except tech. Staples didn't find relief. Rather, investors stayed in tech and didn't buy staples. XLP's chart has been rangebound for the last 2 years, but he expects a bounce because investors this time of year barbell their portfolios to reduce risk.
He is trying to hold lower beta stocks which is a great sector to move into, because it can be a lot more stable. Sometimes these lower beta stocks will actually thrive in a somewhat bearish environment. This one has been trending sideways. You are going to see a rotation where the staples start to move up over the next couple of months and discretionaries are going to start to slow down a bit. (See Past Picks.)