If the stock market can move sectors and stocks, which sectors and stocks are most likely to move in step with the stock market? Sectors and individual stocks most highly correlated to the overall market can use the S&P 500 SPDR ETF (SPY) as a directional indicator.

The following sectors are most correlated the S&P 500 SPDR ETF (SPY).

XLF Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund
XLY Consumer Discretionary Sector SPDR Fund
XLB Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund
XLV Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund
XLI Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund
XLE Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund
XLK Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund

The following individual stocks are most correlated the S&P 500 SPDR ETF (SPY).

TWX Time Warner Inc
C Citigroup Inc
JPM JPMorgan Chase & Co
GILD Gilead Sciences Inc
MMM 3M Company
NSC Norfolk Southern Corp
WFC Wells Fargo & Company
BK The Bank of New York Mellon Corp
EBAY eBay Inc
GS Goldman Sachs Group Inc
HON Honeywell International Inc
UTX United Technologies Corp
XOM Exxon Mobil Corp
UNP Union Pacific Corp
HPQ Hewlett-Packard Co
BAX Baxter International Inc
LLY Eli Lilly and Co
MA MasterCard Inc
LMT Lockheed Martin Corp
CAT Caterpillar Inc
MDT Medtronic Inc
BRK.B Berkshire Hathaway Inc
COF Capital One Financial Corp
LOW Lowe's Companies Inc
SPG Simon Property Group Inc
USB US Bancorp
UPS United Parcel Service Inc
EMR Emerson Electric Co
RTN Raytheon Co
SBUX Starbucks Corp
JNJ Johnson and Johnson
DD E I du Pont de Nemours and Co
EMC EMC Corp
V Visa Inc
DVN Devon Energy Corp
HD Home Depot Inc
IBM International Business Machines Corp
UNH UnitedHealth Group Inc
NWSA News Corp
F Ford Motor Co
MON Monsanto Co
MO Altria Group Inc
ABT Abbott Laboratories
COST Costco Wholesale Corporation
MET MetLife Inc
GE General Electric Co
BA The Boeing Co
PM Philip Morris International Inc

Dave Mecklenburg is the Publisher of TigerSharkTrading.com.