Dion’s Friday ETF Winners and Losers
Welcome to Don Dion’s Daily ETF Winners and Losers. Be sure to stop by each day to get a feel of who’s winning and who’s losing when it comes to ETFs.
Winners
iShares MSCI Thailand Investable Market Index Fund (THD) 3.2%
A number of Southeast Asian nation-focused ETFs are churning out strong gains heading into the end of this week. THD and the Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM) are two of the biggest winners.
VNM got pounded throughout most of this week as the Vietnamese government continued to take steps to ease the nation’s trade deficit while, at the same time, avoiding crippling inflation.
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME) 3.2%
After a week of choppy trading, the bulls managed to score some gains during early Friday trading. Metal prices typically outperform in times of market confidence. Therefore, today’s gains are sitting well with the companies underlying XME.
iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (EWZ) 3.1%
While Southeast Asia may be leading the way today, Latin America is another region which is showing promise heading into the weekend. EWZ, which is designed to track the largest members of the Brazilian equity markets such as the iron ore goliath, Vale and the energy firm, Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) is pocketing strong gains.
Losers
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (VXX) -4.6%
Although the revision was lower, the second quarter GDP number released early Friday was higher than what was expected and provided investors with some welcomed relief. Volatility remains present in today’s markets and should be prepared for accordingly.
Rather than trying to chase market uncertainty with VXX and other VIX-focused ETFs, investors should ready their portfolios with a collection of funds aimed at tracking gold, bonds, and dividend- paying equities.
United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) -2.8%
Throughout this week natural gas prices and the UNG have gotten pounded as investors remain skeptical about the strength of the global economic recovery. The pressure has been enough to push UNG to brand new all-time lows.
I advise investors to avoid using UNG as a way to play natural gas. This fund’s decent has been dramatic and still doesn’t show signs of letting up.
iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (TLT) -2.2%
Long-term bonds continue to be a closely watched area of the market as investors seek protection against the threat of market turmoil. On Friday, TLT took a break from its upward ascension which has brought the fund back towards levels last seen at the start of 2009.
As TLT cools off, ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TBT) is heating up heading into the weekend, jumping 4.5%.
