There’s no denying that the equity markets have been über-resilient of late. Even through the Japanese tsunami and Middle East unrest led to market pullbacks, the trend remains upward. If the economy really is picking up globally, as it seems, you may want to add some leisure and entertainment stocks to your portfolio. One way to do so with a single investment is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF), such as the PowerShares Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment Portfolio (PEJ).

PEJ is based on the Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment Intellidex Index (Index). The fund normally will invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stocks that comprise the index. The index is designed to provide capital appreciation by thoroughly evaluating companies based on a variety of investment merit criteria, including fundamental growth, stock valuation, investment timeliness and risk factors.

You’ll be sure to recognize its top holdings as some of the most popular food and entertainment companies out there. As of April 26, the top five holdings were priceline.com Inc., 5.74%; Starbucks Corp., 5.53%; CBS Corp, 5.14%; Yum! Brands Inc., 5.12%; and McDonald’s Corp., 5.07%. Among some of the other popular holdings are: Walt Disney Co., 4.84%; Papa John’s International Inc., 2.78%; Madison Square Garden Inc., 2.64%; and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., 2.32%.

One of those holdings, McDonald’s Corp, had a blockbuster first quarter, with earnings rising 11%. Even in the midst of rising commodity costs, McDonald’s had strong global growth. For the first quarter, the mega-chain posted earnings of $1.21 billion, or $1.15 a share, up from $1.09 billion, or $1 a share, a year earlier. In addition, the company’s revenue increased 8.9% to $6.11 billion.

I suspect that PEJ has the potential to climb further as the year progresses and the economy improves. The more the economy picks up, the more optimistic consumers feel and the more willing they are to spend their money on the pleasures of entertainment and leisure.

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