These 11 sectors of the S&P 500 are just some of the most popular stocks in the market

At the midpoint of 2022, investors are looking at a remarkable change in stock valuations.

The S&P 500 SPX has declined 20%, but the benchmark index's forward price-to- earnings valuation has fallen by 24% because future earnings estimates have continued to increase. The S&P 500 has gotten cheaper.

The stock market is expected to roar back, especially three sectors, according to analysts.

Below are some of the favored stocks within those sectors, as well as the energy sector, which has a decline in price-to- earnings P E valuations despite rising 37% this year.

Here is a summary of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500, with prices and median price targets among analysts surveyed by FactSet, weighted by market capitalization, as of the close on June 28:

Some notes on sector data:

If you are convinced that a sector or group of sectors is likely to perform well, one easy way to ride along is with an exchange traded fund designed to mirror its performance.

The SPDR series of ETFs, managed by State Street Global Advisors, is popular and designed to track the performance of each of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500. They include :

This isn't to say that the SPDR sector funds are your only choice. Vanguard and iShares offer sector funds using different methodologies to track segments of the broader indexes.

The energy sector has been added because of its decline in P E valuation, even though it has risen 37% this year, and has been added by analysts favorite stocks within the consumer discretionary, communications and technology sectors, based on percentages of buy or equivalent ratings.

Here are the 10 best consumer discretionary stocks in the S&P 500, sorted by share of buy or equivalent ratings:

You can read Tomi Kilgore's detailed guide to the wealth of information for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

Here are the 10 favorite stocks in the S&P 500 communications sector, by percentage of favorable ratings:

S&P 500 information technology sector ranked third on the list, with analysts seeing 37% upside potential, based on FactSet's weighting of median price targets. Here are the 10 favorite names in the sector, by percentage of buy or equivalent ratings:

Even though this sector has gained 37% this year, its forward P E has declined by 30%. Here are the 10 favorites energy stocks in the S&P 500, by percentage of favorable ratings:

Major bond ETFs are on pace for the worst first half of the year on record.