Missed Out on the Bull Market Recovery? Here Are 7 ETFs You Can Buy Today.

In case you haven't been paying attention, the stock market has been on fire lately. The S&P 500 , which includes 500 of America's biggest companies that together make up about 80% of the total U.S. market's value, was recently up nearly 18% year to date. (Over long periods, the S&P 500's average annual gain is closer to 10%.) And that's on top of a 26% gain in 2023.

If you're kicking yourself for having missed it, it's not too late to jump into the stock market -- even though, as always, it might drop sharply tomorrow or next year. It might not, though, and the S&P 500 is fully capable of posting gains for multiple years in a row. Thus, the key is to plan to remain invested for many years -- to be a long-term investor.

Image source: Getty Images.

Whether you missed out on the recent bull market or have been enjoying it, here are seven exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to consider. Each has a reasonable expense ratio , which is its annual fee, and each has an admirable track record. (Of course, part results don't dictate future results -- it all depends on each ETF's holdings and how well they perform going forward.) I've ranked them by their five-year average annual returns.

Data source: Morningstar.com, as of July 10, 2024.
*This fund is new, started in 2021.

Here's why each of them is included in this list:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: SPY) is here partly for comparison purposes, so that you can compare each fund's performance with the approximate market average. It's also a perfectly solid ETF to consider for your portfolio, though the similar Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) has a lower annual fee.
• The Fidelity Cloud Computing ETF (NYSEMKT: FCLD) is here because cloud computing is a rapidly growing part of the technology sector. If you are bullish on cloud computing's future , consider parking some dollars in this fund. Expect volatility, though (as you might for many of these ETFs) -- it fell by 41% in 2022, and gained 53% in 2023. Its top holdings recently were Oracle , Intuit , and Microsoft .
• The Vanguard Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: VUG) is here because it's a solid ETF that contains all the " Magnificent Seven " stocks along with nearly 200 others -- and with about 40% of its assets in technology businesses. Its top holdings recently included Microsoft, Apple , and Nvidia .
• Real estate is a cyclical industry, its fortunes generally rising and falling along with prevailing economic conditions. If you're bullish on near-term prospects for real estate , the iShares US Home Construction ETF (NYSEMKT: ITB) should interest you. Its top holdings recently were D.R. Horton , Lennar , and NVR .
• The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: VGT) is another technology stock -focused ETF, with Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia as recent top holdings. Just about all of its holdings are classified as in the technology sector.
• The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEMKT: XLK) also has just about all of its assets solely in technology-sector stocks, with the usual suspects as top holdings: Microsoft, Nvidia, and Apple. Microsoft and Nvidia are weighted extremely highly in the fund, at about 22% and 20% each, respectively.
• Finally there's the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH) one of several terrific semiconductor-focused ETFs to consider. (Two others are the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD).) This ETF's top holdings recently were Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing , and Broadcom . Its outsized performance is due to many semiconductor stocks being on a tear in recent years.

Look these ETFs over and see which ones appeal to you most and which ones might be a good fit for your portfolio. Understand that after posting some solid gains for a few years, any of them might take a breather or pull back for a bit. But over the long term -- many years -- each has solid growth potential.

It's rarely worth looking backward to lament missing any bull market -- just look forward for which investments seem poised to perform well for you from now on.

Selena Maranjian has positions in Apple, Broadcom, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, SPDR Series Trust - SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF, Vanguard Index Funds - Vanguard Growth ETF, and iShares Trust - iShares Semiconductor ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Intuit, Lennar, Microsoft, NVR, Nvidia, Oracle, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Vanguard Index Funds - Vanguard Growth ETF, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, and iShares Trust - iShares Semiconductor ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .