Five ETFs to Watch This Week
This holiday-shortened week may see light trading ahead of the Easter holiday, but the fallout from last week’s Greek bailout deal may linger. Earnings from Research in Motion(RIMM) will be big news mid-week.
Currencyshares Euro Trust(FXE)
The euro seemed poised for a free-fall at the end of last week after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet called an IMF bailout “very, very bad” on Thursday, but by the end of the day he was praising the Franco-German-IMF agreement and said the ECB would extend the weakened collateral regulations for another year. The euro rebounded sharply on Friday, but still finished the week with solid losses.
This week, we’ll see how investors digest the news. The deal creates a backstop for Greece, but only as a last resort and with unanimous approval. Germany won very strict standards and the Greece economy is not in good shape.
iShares S&P North American Technology-Multimedia Networking Index Fund(IGN)
Research in Motion is the second largest holdings in this ETF, with 7.7% of assets. The company was upgraded by J.P. Morgan from “neutral” to “overweight” last Friday, and RIMM reports earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Analysts predict the Blackberry maker earned $1.28 in the quarter-ended February.
Although IGN does not hold any shares of Apple(AAPL), the Saturday launch of the iPad will generate buzz for the technology sector and RIMM is likely to benefit to some degree.
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index(VXX)
This ETF is making a push to become the worst performing ETF of the first quarter, worse than even inverse leveraged ETFs in the strongest performing sectors.
As of Friday, VXX was running neck and neck with Direxion Daily Real Estate Bear 3X(DRV).
Aside from a brief rally in January and February, this ETF has been losing all year. It also had the inopportune fate to be created at the peak of volatility, a month before the market bottom in March 2009.
Further, as the name implies, the ETN tracks futures contracts, which has opened the fund to problems of contango, not unlike UNG. Also, since it trades below $25 per share, Barclay’s can initiate a 1-for- 4 reverse split.
Finally, the SEC may be tightening regulations on ETFs that use derivatives, according to a news release from the agency last week.
iShares: MSCI South Korea(EWY)
The sinking of a South Korean naval vessel on Friday sank shares of EWY. This appears to be the most deadly of several naval battles stretching back to the mid-1990s, and also the worst for South Korea.
That’s the reason why EWY took a hit compared to previous incidents in the past decade which had little effect on shares. Shares are likely to bounce back, but the situation is worth watching given the U.S. military commitment to South Korea.
Market Vectors Russia ETF(RSX)
Mobile Telesystems(MBT) reports on Wednesday. The firm is the tenth largest holding in RSX, with 3.8% of assets. MBT provides telecom services in Russia and some nearby countries. Analysts are looking for $1.15 per share in earnings.
MBT has been one of the leading stocks in RSX’s portfolio and is one of the reasons RSX leads the country ETFs, although its lead over India ETFs shrank last week, however. Good earnings from MBT will be necessary to keep RSX in the lead.
