Compare/Updated Oct 26, 2026, refreshed every trading day
XLE vs VDE
State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF against Vanguard Energy ETF: 4 years of returns, risk and today’s technical read, from Kavout’s own data.
XLE did slightly better than VDE over the period: $1,000 invested on Oct 28, 2022 grew to $1,772 versus $1,754 for VDE, a 77.2% versus 75.4% total return. XLE also led over 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, YTD, 1 year, and 3 years. The difference was modest, with daily-move correlation of 0.996 and a typical monthly performance gap of 0.27 points, so the funds behaved almost identically. XLE had slightly lower costs, with a 0.08% expense ratio versus 0.09% for VDE, which may matter over time. Risk was nearly the same: 12-month volatility was 22.1% for XLE and 22.0% for VDE, while maximum drawdown was less severe for XLE at -20.1% versus -21.4% for VDE.
- Price is above its 200-day average ($58); 50-day at $64.
- RSI 70, neutral. Supertrend says buy. ADX 21, so the trend is developing.
- Price is above its 200-day average ($162); 50-day at $180.
- RSI 69, neutral. Supertrend says buy. ADX 20, so the trend is weak.
Head to head
Which has returned more, XLE or VDE?
XLE beat VDE in 26 of the last 48 months; VDE won the other 22. The typical monthly gap was 0.27 points.
Total return by period
Which is riskier?
Both: Nov 22, 2024 to Apr 8, 2025
- 0.996
- correlation of daily moves, 4 years
- 0.99
- XLE move per 1% in VDE
- 0.996
- correlation, last 12 months
Month by month
Of the last 48 months. The typical gap was 0.27 points.
When did they diverge?
| Month | XLE | VDE | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 2025 | +3.9% | +2.4% | +1.45 pts |
| March 2023 | +0.0% | -1.1% | +1.11 pts |
| December 2022 | -3.0% | -3.9% | +0.83 pts |
| May 2025 | +1.3% | +2.0% | -0.75 pts |
Where the numbers come from. 1000 daily adjusted closes per fund from the Kavout market-data API, dividends included. Signals and indicators are Kavout’s own, refreshed nightly. Every figure is calculated from those adjusted closes.
Holdings and fees
What do you actually own with XLE and VDE?
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