No Trick, 3 Halloween ETF & Stock Treats for Investors

Gone are the days when Halloween used to be a spooky event. Halloween is also no more specific to kids dressing up as ghosts and ghouls, and trick-or-treating. It is more of a party event now.

In fact, 18 to 24 year-old consumers are most likely to celebrate Halloween, with nearly nine in 10 taking part in it this year, up from 84% a decade ago, per nrf.com. Needless to say, the event creates solid business opportunities.

Inside Halloween Spending This Year

National Retail Federation has estimated that Americans will likely spend a staggering $8.8 billion on Halloween candy, costumes and decorations this year. However, the momentum has slowed of late as the last two years saw at least $9 billion in spending. About 15% said tariff concerns will disturb their Halloween plans.

About 95% will likely shell out around $2.6 billion on candies. As much as 67% of consumers will spend about $3.2 billion on costumes and 72% of consumers will likely go for buying decorations worth $2.7 billion. About one-third will throw or attend a Halloween party, 29% will take children trick-or-treating and 17% will get their pets to don Halloween costume, per NRF. Needless to say, retail sales will be on a roll in the upcoming days and put the following ETFs and stocks in focus.

ETF Picks

VanEck Vectors Retail ETF RTH

Several discount retailers like Costco COST, Ross ROST, Dollar General DG and Wal-Mart WMT have solid exposure to this fund. Notably, 42% of respondents told NRF they will hit department stores and 25% will head grocery stores and 23% will shop at departmental stores, making this broader retail ETF a perfect buy for Halloween (read: Top-Ranked Sector ETFs to Buy for Q4).

Global X Social Media ETF SOCL

Consumers normally will look for perfect costume idea online. Pinterest Facebook (FB) and YouTube are some of platforms where people search for Halloween ideas. About 48% of Millennials have purchased Halloween items to share them on social media posts. So, online ETF SOCL is highly in focus now (read: Should You Buy Facebook Ahead of Q3 Earnings?).

ProShares Pet Care ETF PAWZ

NRF projects total planned spending for pet costumes at $490 million this year, more than double the figure recorded in 2010. This very well makes PAWZ a buy. The fund consists of U.S. and international companies that potentially stand to benefit from interest in, and resources spent on, pet ownership (read: ProShares Brings Pet-Friendly ETF).

Stock Picks

Dollar General Corporation DG

Discount stores are busy destinations for Halloween shopping. Dollar General is one of the largest discount retailers in the United States. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) with a VGM Score of B, at the time of writing. It comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 11%).

Hershey Company HSY

Candy and chocolate sales are hot leading up to Halloween. The Zacks Rank #2 company is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America as well as a global leader in chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery. It comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 1%).

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN

With all the celebration around, who can get forget Amazon – a hot destination of online shopping for costumes, home decor and candies? Though the stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), it comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 22%).

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Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Global X Social Media ETF (SOCL): ETF Research Reports VanEck Vectors Retail ETF (RTH): ETF Research Reports Hershey Company (The) (HSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Dollar General Corporation (DG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST) : Free Stock Analysis Report Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) : Free Stock Analysis Report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report ProShares Pet Care ETF (PAWZ): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report