ETF Trading Strategies

Van Eck Launches New ETFs To Replace Six Delisted HOLDRS

2012-01-02T23:22:00.000-05:00

Van Eck Global rolled out six Market Vector ETFs on December 21, 2011 that began trading as newly-listed issues on NYSE Arca.

The new ETFs will use the same ticker symbols as six similar Merrill Lynch HOLDRS products that were delisted the prior day. About two-thirds of the outstanding HOLDRS shares were tendered to Van Eck and automatically exchanged into shares of the new Market Vector ETFs.

The new funds are Market Vectors Bank and Brokerage ETF (AMEX:RKH), Market Vectors Biotech ETF (AMEX:BBH), Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (AMEX:OIH), Market Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (AMEX:PPH), Market Vectors Retail ETF (AMEX:RTH), and Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (AMEX:SMH).

The underlying indexes are designed to provide liquid and diversified exposure to each particular industry. As is typical of indexes, each is dynamic and will evolve over time to reflect changes to the industry it represents. Common traits of the new ETFs include:

Track one of the various Market Vectors US Listed 25 Indexes
Hold 25 of the largest US listed stocks in the sector or industry
Use a market capitalization weighting methodology
Have expense ratios capped at 0.35%
Rebalance quarterly to reflect index changes

Market Vectors Bank and Brokerage ETF is truly global in nature, with just a 36% allocation to U.S. based banks. Other country representation includes Canada 17%, U.K. 11%, Brazil 9%, Spain 8%, Switzerland 6%, and Japan 5%. The five largest holdings are Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC - News) 10.5%, HSBC Holdings ADR (NYSE:HBC - News) 9.9%, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM - News) 9.4%, Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - News) 5.4%, and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD - News) 5.3%.

Market Vectors Biotech ETF is one of seven (five traditional and two geared) ETFs focused on biotechnology. The five largest holdings are Amgen (NasdaqGS:AMGN - News) 18.2%, Celgene (NasdaqGS:CELG - News) 9.6%, Gilead Sciences (NasdaqGS:GILD - News) 9.6%, Biogen Idec (NasdaqGS:BIIB - News) 8.2%, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS:ALXN - News) 4.8%.

Market Vectors Oil Services ETF has a good chance of retaining the role of its HOLDRS predecessor – being the most popular energy services industry ETF. The five largest holdings are Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB - News) 19.2%, Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - News) 10.0%, National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV - News) 9.1%, Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI - News) 6.7%, and FMC Technologies (NYSE:FTI - News) 4.8%.

Market Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF is one of five pharmaceutical ETPs. The five largest holdings are Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - News) 7.5%, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - News) 7.0%, Novartis (NYSE:NVS - News) 5.7%, Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK - News) 5.2%, and Bristol-Myers Qsuibb (NYSE:BMY - News) 5.1%.

RTH : Market Vectors Retail ETF will likely trail far behind the current retailing ETF popularity leader – SPDR S&P Retail (NYSEArca:XRT - News). The five largest holdings are Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT - News) 11.1%, Home Depot (NYSE:HD - News) 6.9%, Amazon.com (NasdaqGS:AMZN - News) 6.7%, CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS - News) 5.8%, and Lowe’s Co (NYSE:LOW - News) 5.1%.

SMH : Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF also has a good shot at retaining the role of its HOLDRS predecessor – being the most popular semiconductor industry ETF. The five largest holdings are Intel (NasdaqGS:INTC - News) 19.6%, Taiwan Semiconductor ADR (NYSE:TSM - News), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN - News) 7.1%, ASML Holding (NasdaqGS:ASML - News) 5.1%, and Broadcom Class A (NasdaqGS:BRCM - News) 4.9%.

The HOLDRS Are Now History, NYSE Says

2011-12-23T15:37:00.003-05:00

The final 11 HOLDRS, which collectively had about $305 million in assets, were terminated today by their sponsor, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner ' Smith, ending the lives of a family of exchange-traded products whose time has come and gone with the explosion of ETFs.

The dissolution of the 11 HOLDRS funds comes on the heels of the switch on Dec. 21 of six HOLDRS funds into Van Eck Global ETFs. The six HOLDRS involved in the Van Eck transfer had about $3.5 billion going into the exchange offer, and Van Eck said $2.3 billion of those assets went into its six new ETFs. The six securities chosen by Van Eck for the exchange offer held about 90 percent of all HOLDRS assets.

Arca, the New York Stock Exchange’s electronic trading platform, said today in a communiqué to investors that it will suspend trading in each of the 11 remaining HOLDRS prior to the opening of business on Tuesday, Dec. 27, and all open orders will be canceled at that time. Merrill Lynch said in August not long after Van Eck announced its exchange-offer plans that it aimed to shut the 11 remaining HOLDRS.

HOLDRS comprise holding company receipts that Merrill launched in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. They were narrowly focused portfolios that never readjusted their composition the way ETFs do. While they are exchange traded like ETFs, their set-and-forget structure made them increasingly irrelevant, though they remained valued for their liquidity by big investors looking for hedging tools.

Investors who owned HOLDRS will receive coupons that they can either turn into cash based on the value of the securities at the time they redeem their coupons, or they can take explicit possession of the individual securities that were previously packaged as HOLDRS.

That’s also the case for those investors who didn’t take Van Eck up on its exchange offer this week. Shareholders with about $1.2 billion in assets held in the six HOLDRS that became Van Eck ETFs didn’t tender their HOLDRS shares.

The 11 HOLDRS that were dissolved today, their tickers and their assets as of Dec. 22 are as follows:

Broadband HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:BDH), $13.64 million
B2B Internet HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:BHH), $8.49 million
Europe 2001 HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:EKH), $3.68 million
Internet HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:HHH), $47.34 million
Internet Architecture HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:IAH), $29.82 million
Internet Infrastructure HOLDRS TRUST (NYSEArca:IIH), $5.37 million
Market 2000+HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:MKH), $9.76 million
Software HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:SWH), $27.14 million
Telecom HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:TTH), $99.88 million
Utilities HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:UTH), $45.68 million
Wireless HOLDRS Trust (NYSEArca:WMH), $10.67 million

Retail ETFs

2011-12-10T00:46:00.001-05:00

Retail ETFs
	XRT	PMR	RTH
Expense Ratio	0.35%	0.60%	Flat Fee
# Of Holdings	96	31	18
% In Top 10	11.7%	45%	84.6%
Largest Holding (as of 11/10/11)	ARO (1.6%)	M (5.7%)	WMT (18.9%)
Nov./Dec. 2010 Performance	+11.4%	+9.5%	+8.0%

SLX : Market Vectors Steel

2011-12-10T00:36:00.002-05:00

Market Vectors Steel (SLX) facts

Inception	October 2006
Total Assets	$188 million
Investment Approach	Seeks to replicate the NYSE Arca Steel Index, which includes companies involved in the production of steel products or mining and processing of iron ore.
Expense Ratio	0.55%
1-Year / 3-Year / 5-Year Annual Returns	(27.5%) / 24.0% / 2.4%
Top Holdings with High CAPS Rating (4 or 5 Stars) and Portfolio Weight	(NYS: RIO) (12.4%)(NYS: VALE) (11.7%)(NYS: MT) (7.9%)
Dividend Yield	2.0%
Alternatives	PowerShares Global Steel(NAS: PSTL) SPDR S&P Metals & Mining (NYS:XME)

Sources: Morningstar and Motley Fool CAPS.

Inverse ETF List

2011-11-27T22:09:00.001-05:00

New ETFs are being developed and launched every week. Some of the bigger ETFs are absolutely going to be around for a long time, while others may close down without sufficient investor support and interest. If you are interested in trading inverse ETFs, here’s a list of the top 101.

BGZ – Direxion Daily Large Cap Bear 3X Shares ETF
BIS – UltraShort NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF
BRIS – Direxion Daily BRIC Bear 3x Shares ETF
BXDB – Barclays Short B Leveraged Inverse S&P 500 Total Return ETN
COWS – Direxion Daily Agribusiness Bear 3x Shares ETF
DDG – Short Oil & Gas ProShares ETF
DGLD – 3x Inverse Gold ETN
DLBS – iPath US Treasury Long Bond Bear ETN
DMM – MacroShares Housing Down ETF
DNO – United States Short Oil ETF
DOG – Short Dow30 ProShares ETF
DOY – MacroShares $100 Oil Down ETF
DPK – Direxion Daily Devloped Markets Bear 3X Shares ETF
DSLV – 3x Inverse Silver ETN
DSTJ – JP Morgan 2X Short US Long Treasury Futures ETN
DSXJ – JP Morgan 2X Short US 10 Year Treasury Futures ETN
DUG – UltraShort Oil & Gas ProShares ETF
DUST – Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3x Shares ETF
DXD – UltraShort Dow 30 ProShares ETF
EDZ – Direxion Daily Emerging Markets Bear 3X Shares ETF
EEV – UltraShort MSCI Emerging Markets ProShares ETF
EFU – UltraShort MSCI EAFE ProShares ETF
EFZ – Short MSCI EAFE ProShares ETF
ERY – Direxion Daily Energy Bear 3X Shares ETF
EUM – Short MSCI Emerging Markets ProShares ETF
EUO – ProShares UltraShort Euro ETF
EWV – UltraShort MSCI Japan ProShares ETF
PSQ – Short QQQ ProShares ETF
PST – ProShares UltraShort 7-10 Year Treasury ETF
QID – UltraShort QQQ ProShares ETF
QLD – Ultra QQQ ProShares ETF
REK – ProShares Short Real Estate ETF
RETS – Direxion Daily Retail Bear 3X Shares ETF
REW – UltraShort Technology ProShares ETF
RSW – Rydex Inverse 2x S&P 500 ETF
RUSS – Direxion Daily Russia Bear 3x Shares ETF
RWM – Short Russell2000 ProShares ETF
RXD – UltraShort Health Care ProShares ETF
SAGG – Daily Total Bond Market Bear 1x Shares ETF
SBB – ProShares Short S&P SmallCap600 ETF
SBM – ProShares Short Basic Materials ETF
SCC – ProShares UltraShort Consumer Services ETF
SCO – ProShares UltraShort DJ-AIG Crude Oil ETF
SDD – ProShares UltraShort SmallCap600 ETF
SDK – ProShares UltraShort MidCap Growth ETF
SDOW – UltraPro Short Dow 30 ETF
SDP – ProShares UltraShort Utilities ETF
SDS – ProShares UltraShort S&P500 ETF
SEF – Short Financials ProShares ETF
SFK – ProShares UltraShort Russell1000 Growth ETF
SH – ProShares Short S&P500 ETF
SICK – Direxion Daily Healthcare Bear 3X Shares ETF
SIJ – ProShares UltraShort Industrials ETF
SJB – ProShares Short High Yield ETF
SJH – ProShares UltraShort Russell 2000 Value ETF
SJL – ProShares UltraShort MidCap Value ETF
SKF – ProShares UltraShort Financials ETF
SKK – ProShares UltraShort Russell2000 Growth ETF
SMDD – UltraPro Short Mid-Cap 400
SMN – ProShares UltraShort Basic Materials ETF
SOXS – Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3x Shares ETF
SPXU – ProShares Ultra Pro Short S&P 500 ETF
SQQQ – UltraPro Short QQQ ETF
SRS – ProShares UltraShort Real Estate ETF
SRTY – UltraPro Short Russell 2000 ETF
SSG – ProShares UltraShort SemiConductor ETF
SVXY – ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF
SZK – ProShares UltraShort Consumer Goods ETF
TBF – ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury ETF
TBT – ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury ETF
TBX – Short 7-10 Year Treasury ETF
TBZ – UltraShort 3-7 Year Treasury ETF
TLL – ProShares UltraShort Telecommunications ETF
TMV – Direxion Daily 30-year Treasury Bear 3x Shares ETF
TOTS – Direxion Daily Total Market Bear 1X Shares ETF
TPS – ProShares UltraShort TIPS ETF
TWM – ProShares UltraShort Russell2000 ETF
TYBS – Daily 20 Year Plus Treasury Bear 1x Shares ETF
TYNS – Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 1x Shares ETF
TYO – Direxion Daily 10-year Treasury Bear 3x Shares ETF
TYP – Direxion Daily Technology Bear 3x Shares ETF
TZA – Direxion Daily SmallCap Bear 3x Shares ETF
TWQ – ProShares UltraShort Russell 3000 Index ETF
UDN – PowerShares US Dollar Bearish ETF
YCS – ProShares UltraShort Yen ETF
YXI – Proshares Short FTSE / Xinhua China 25 ETF
ZSL – ProShares UltraShort Silver ETF
FAZ – Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ETF
FXP – UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China25 Proshares ETF
GASX – Direxion Daily Natural Gas Related Bear 3X Shares ETF
GLL – UltraShort Gold ProShares ETF
INDZ – Direxion Daily India Bear 3x Shares ETF
IPAL – 2x Inverse Palladium ETN
IPLT – 2x Inverse Platinum ETN
KRS – Short KBW Regional Banking ETF
KOLD – UltraShort DJ-UBS Natural Gas ETF
LHB – Direxion Daily Latin America 3x Bear Shares ETF
MATS – Direxion Daily Basic Materials Bear 3X Shares ETF
MWN – Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 3X Shares ETF
MYY – Short MidCap400 ProShares ETF
MZZ – UltraShort MidCap400 ProShares ETF

Video : inverse ETFs

2011-11-25T22:18:00.000-05:00

UVXY and TVIX : bear VIX ETFs

2011-11-09T14:50:00.002-05:00

UVXY

TVIX

Weekly Best Performing ETFs (wk 43 : 10/24/11 – 10/28/11)

2011-10-30T19:28:00.000-04:00

Symbol	% Wk Change	Description
EDC	28.03	DIREXION SHARES EMERGING MKT BULL 3X SHARE
AGQ	25.56	PROSHARES ULTRA SILVER
UYM	21.33	PROSHARES ULTRA BASIC MATERIALS
TNA	20.64	DIREXION SHARES SMALL CAP BULL 3X SHARES
FAS	19.46	DIREXION SHARES 3X BULL ETF
ERX	18.41	DIREXION SHARES ENERGY BULL 3X SHARES
SLX	16.65	MARKET VECTORS STEEL INDEX ETF
TAN	16.26	CLAYMORE ADVISORS GUGGENHEIM SOLAR ETF
XME	15.86	SPDR S&P METALS & MINING ETF
MWJ	14.90	DIREXION SHARES MID CAP BULL 3X SHARES
UWM	14.10	PROSHARES ULTRA RUSELL 2000
URE	13.71	PROSHARES ULTRA REAL ESTATE
KOL	13.16	MARKET VECTORS COAL ETF
FXI	12.95	ISHARES FTSE CHINA 25 INDEX FUND
UGL	12.95	PROSHARES ULTRA GOLD
HAO	12.89	GUGGENHEIM ABC GUGGENHEIM CHINA SMALL CAP ETF
UCO	12.76	PROSHARES ULTRA DJ UBS CRUDE OIL
TYH	12.68	DIREXION SHARES TECHNOLOGY BULL 3X SHARES
UYG	12.68	PROSHARES ULTRA FINANCIALS
SLV	12.44	ISHARES SILVER TRUST
PXJ	12.41	POWERSHARES DYNAMIC OIL SVCS PORTFOLIO
GXC	12.26	SPDR SPDR S&P CHINA ETF
EWZ	12.10	ISHARES MSCI BRAZIL IND FD
GDX	12.05	MARKET VECTORS GOLD MINERS ETF
PBW	11.98	POWERSHARES WILDERHILL CLEAN ENERGY PORT
BGU	11.72	DIREXION SHARES LARGE CAP BULL 3X SHARES
DIG	11.69	PROSHARES ULTRA OIL & GAS
MVV	11.50	PROSHARES ULTRA MIDCAP400
IEZ	11.41	ISHARES DJ US OIL & EQUIP
BIK	11.17	SPDR BRIC 40 ETF
XES	10.82	SPDR S&P OIL & GAS EQUIP & SVCS ETF
ILF	10.77	ISHARES S&P LATIN AMERICAN 40 INDEX FD
ECH	10.74	ISHARES MSCI CHILE INDEX FUND
RSX	10.56	MARKET VECTORS RUSSIA
IYM	10.38	ISHARES DOW JONES US BASIC MAT SEC
EWD	10.29	ISHARES MSCI SWEDEN

See Artremis for ETF year-to-date performance

Weekly WORST Performing ETFs (wk 43 : 10/24/11 – 10/28/11)

2011-10-30T17:31:00.003-04:00

Symbol	% Wk Change	Description
EDZ	-26.23	DIREXION SHARES EMRG MARKETS BEAR 3X SHRS
FXP	-23.66	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT FTSE CHINA 25
ZSL	-22.40	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT SILVER
TZA	-20.92	DIREXION SHARES DAILY SMALL CAP BEAR 3X SHARES
FAZ	-20.04	DIREXION SHARES 3X BEAR ETF
SMN	-19.45	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT BASIC MATERIALS
EEV	-17.64	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT MCSI EMERGING MRKTS
ERY	-17.26	DIREXION SHARES ENERGY BEAR 3X SHARES
TWM	-14.00	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT RUSSELL 2000
SKF	-13.25	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT FINANCIALS
SRS	-13.15	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT REAL ESTATE
SCO	-12.90	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT DJ AGI CRUDE OIL
TYP	-12.65	DIREXION SHARES TECHNOLOGY BEAR 3X SHARES
BGZ	-12.17	DIREXION SHARES LARGE CAP BEAR 3X
GLL	-12.07	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT GOLD
MZZ	-11.72	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT MIDCAP400
DUG	-11.20	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT OIL & GAS
EUM	-9.26	PROSHARES SHORT MSCI EMERGING MARKETS
SDS	-7.69	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT S&P 500
RSW	-7.55	RYDEX 2X S&P 500 ETF
DXD	-7.39	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT DOW30
RWM	-7.14	PROSHARES SHORT RUSSELL2000
SEF	-6.63	PROSHARES SHORT FINANCIALS ETF
EFZ	-6.22	PROSHARES SHORT MSCI EAFE
QID	-5.94	PROSHARES ULTRASHORT QQQ
SH	-3.94	PROSHARES PROSHARES SHORT S&P 500

For a year-to-date performance, see ETF year-to-date performance

WisdomTree's Mo Slows

2011-10-25T22:29:00.000-04:00

Why the pure-play in ETF stocks suddenly fell behind its small-cap and asset-management peers in September.

Sometimes the truth hurts. WisdomTree Investments, the only pure-play provider of exchange-traded funds, has lost more than 30% of its stock-market value since late August, while small-caps have dropped just 4%. Earlier this past summer shares of WisdomTree (ticker: WETF) were easily beating both small-caps and other asset managers.

Why the big swings in the relative performance of the ETF sponsor's stock? A major contributor may be the firm's otherwise laudable transparency. WisdomTree's Website updates the company's asset levels daily and self-reports net inflows weekly. As a result, attentive investors have a pretty good idea how the ETF specialist is doing at any time.

When it reports third-quarter financials this month, for instance, WisdomTree's inflows are expected to wind up around $185 million. That would be its second-worst quarter of flows since the market bottomed in 2009, observes Sterne Agee analyst Jason Weyeneth. It also would represent WisdomTree's first quarter with less than $1 billion in inflows over the past five quarters. "For this company, the third quarter is looking like a disappointment, considering the momentum it has built up to this point," says Weyeneth.

The firm, chaired by hedge-fund legend Michael Steinhardt, has mostly enjoyed an excellent early history. It's created a niche using alternative ETFs that compete against BlackRock's (BLK) iShares and State Street Global Advisors' (STT) SPDRs. However, WisdomTree, which recently moved to Nasdaq from the pink sheets, organizes its ETFs by fundamentals like dividends and profits rather than by market cap as the others do. It's also become an active manager of ETFs.

Recent flows have been negatively affected by one large client that pulled around $700 million from a few funds that were focused on emerging markets and currencies in the last week of the quarter, Weyeneth notes.

Despite the stumbles, the fundamental long-term growth story for WisdomTree remains bright as it participates in a fast-growing area. The shares have risen almost 50% this year, blowing past the typical money manager's 20% loss in 2011. Still, the slower inflows mean that the company didn't reach its own target of reaping 3% to 5% of total industry inflows in the most recent quarter. But WisdomTree's prior flows have allowed it to stay on plan for the year. Heading into the fourth quarter, the company's funds in 2011 have attracted about 4% of net new money heading into ETFs.

WISDOMTREE WASN'T THE ONLY ETF PROVIDER to lose ground in September, as European sovereign-debt woes and weaker global economic growth were reflected in lower asset prices for nearly everything.

With the blue chip SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) falling 7% in the final month of the third quarter, assets of ETFs and exchange-traded notes slid 9% to $973 billion from August, says the National Stock Exchange.

ETF asset totals were still about 8% ahead of where they were at the same time last year. That, however, was quite a bit slower growth than the 28% seen from September 2009 to September 2010.

Top ETF Performers YTD (as of October 21)

2011-10-23T14:42:00.001-04:00

SYMBOL	NAME	PRICE ($)	YTD	1 YR	PRIMARY SECTOR
LBND	PowerShares DB 3x Long 25+ Year Treasury Bond ETN	38.35	101.84%	43.15%	Fixed Income
TMF	Direxion Daily 30-Year Treasury Bull 3X Shares	61.16	77.53%	42.95%	Fixed Income
BOM	Powershares DB Base Metals Double Short ETN	16.33	54.94%	26.98%	Commodity
UBT	ProShares Ultra 20+ Year Treasury	120.07	52.75%	34.41%	Fixed Income
BZQ	ProShares Ultrashort MSCI Brazil	21.84	45.02%	28.47%	Global Equity
INDZ	Direxion Daily India Bear 2X Shares	35.10	43.62%	38.35%	Global Equity
ZROZ	PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury Index Fund	101.43	43.46%	33.45%	Fixed Income
EMSA	iPath Short Enhanced MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETN	122.85	43.10%	0.00%	Global Equity
DTYL	iPath US Treasury 10-year Bull ETN	62.62	40.50%	16.33%	Fixed Income
EDV	Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury Index Fund	113.22	39.91%	29.15%	Fixed Income
TYD	Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 3X Shares	72.94	37.91%	17.11%	Fixed Income
LHB	Direxion Daily Latin America Bear 3x Shares	22.17	37.17%	10.04%	Global Equity
RTSA	iPath Short Extended Russell 2000 TR Index ETN	52.90	36.55%	0.00%	Equity
DLBL	iPath US Treasury Long Bond Bull ETN	63.10	34.92%	19.48%	Fixed Income
BRIS	Direxion Daily BRIC Bear 2X Shares	35.24	32.28%	19.20%	Global Equity
FXP	ProShares UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China 25	39.23	30.42%	42.40%	Global Equity
BOS	Powershares DB Base Metals Short ETN	23.28	27.98%	17.28%	Commodity
TLT	iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund	114.34	24.70%	17.52%	Fixed Income
UST	ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury	100.65	23.69%	12.34%	Fixed Income
TLO	SPDR Barclays Capital Long Term Treasury ETF	66.53	22.69%	14.87%	Fixed Income

USLV - new 3x long silver ETN

2011-10-23T09:19:00.002-04:00

Worst ETF Performers YTD (as of October 21)

2011-10-22T14:43:00.006-04:00

SYMBOL	NAME	PRICE ($)	YTD	1 YR	PRIMARY SECTOR
LBJ	Direxion Daily Latin America Bull 3x Shares	15.10	-62.55%	-53.09%	Global Equity
ZSL	ProShares UltraShort Silver	14.93	-61.99%	-80.71%	Commodity
EDC	Direxion Daily Emerging Markets Bull 3X Shares	15.89	-58.86%	-54.08%	Global Equity
TMV	Direxion Daily 30-Year Treasury Bear 3X Shares	17.80	-58.81%	-53.21%	Fixed Income
SBND	PowerShares DB 3x Short 25+ Year Treasury Bond ETN	10.98	-57.77%	-49.73%	Fixed Income
YINN	Direxion Daily China Bull 3X Shares	18.51	-57.45%	-61.99%	Global Equity
KWT	Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF	4.72	-57.05%	-61.74%	Global Equity
TAN	Guggenheim Solar ETF	3.28	-55.07%	-60.89%	Global Equity
URA	Global X Uranium ETF	9.26	-54.76%	0.00%	Commodity
FAS	Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares	12.76	-54.17%	-43.36%	Equity
UBR	ProShares Ultra MSCI Brazil	18.18	-50.26%	-46.50%	Global Equity
XIV	VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short Term ETN	5.95	-50.23%	0.00%	Equity
INDL	Direxion Daily India Bull 2X Shares	25.37	-49.56%	-51.10%	Global Equity
BDD	Powershares DB Base Metals Double Long ETN	10.14	-47.39%	-40.46%	Commodity
ROLA	iPath Long Extended Russell 1000 TR Index ETN	31.83	-46.53%	0.00%	Equity
CHIM	Global X China Materials ETF	8.19	-44.66%	-42.44%	Global Equity
PBW	PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio	5.67	-44.54%	-42.03%	Equity
TNA	Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 3X Shares	40.18	-44.53%	-22.49%	Equity
XPP	ProShares Ultra FTSE / Xinhua China 25	40.67	-44.38%	-51.38%	Global Equity
SOXL	Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares	27.88	-44.23%	-10.47%	Equity

Morningstar to rate ETF model portfolios

2011-09-28T08:32:00.001-04:00

(Reuters) — Morningstar Inc. is poised to start ranking exchange-traded fund model portfolios, the Chicago-based research firm said at its annual ETF Invest Conference on Thursday.

ETF model portfolios - a way for advisers to provide investors with an actively managed portfolio of exchange-traded funds - have grown in popularity together with ETFs.

Morningstar, which defines ETF managed accounts as portfolios of securities where more than 50 percent is invested in ETFs, tracks more than 330 ETF managed portfolios, with about $22 billion in assets. Nearly a third of those were launched over the past three years.

Major brokerage firms, like Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Wells Fargo Advisors LLC, offer several such portfolios to their advisers. Last year, Charles Schwab & Co. bought Winward Investment Management Inc., a provider of model ETF portfolios, in response to demand from advisers.

Such portfolios appeal to advisers who want to use ETFs, but don't feel comfortable managing them, Tom Lydon, president of Global Trends Investments, which manages $95 million, told Reuters at the conference.

As these managed portfolios are active and have no performance benchmarks, it's difficult to judge how well they're doing, he said. This assessment gets even harder as more advisers pitch their own ETF model portfolios to other advisers.

"With so many model portfolios out there, it's very hard to say which one is better than the other," Lydon said. The new rankings, however, should help weed out some of the bad apples in the ETF model portfolio world, he said.

Among them are advisers who appear to be gaming the system, Christian Magoon, an ETF consultant, told Reuters at the conference.

In some cases, an adviser managing a number of model ETF portfolios might have only one that does well. The adviser will close the underperforming portfolios and only tout the performance of the survivor.

Morningstar will disclose when advisers stop reporting on some portfolios, Andy Gogerty, an ETF managed portfolio strategist, said during the conference.

Some advisers also market ETF performance based on imaginary returns rather than actual historical performance. They report only what a portfolio would have returned had it existed over a longer period of time, said Richard Ferri, Portfolio Solutions LLC, an adviser with $1 billion in assets under management.

These issues raised concerns from the Securities and Exchange Commission last year, but no enforcement or action resulted. Indeed, Morningstar won't allow advisers to submit hypothetical historical returns, Gogerty said.

The firm may eventually apply its star ratings to these portfolios, Gogerty said, describing the move as "the next logical step."

For the rankings, which will be launched by the end of the year, Morningstar will classify the portfolios it tracks and rank them based on disclosed historical performance and its own analysis of their investment strategies.

With accountability in place via these new rankings, Lydon said "it will become survival of the fittest" for ETF model portfolios.

But some advisers worry that it would be a conflict of interest for Morningstar to rank ETF model portfolios, because the research firm has its own offerings through its subsidiary, Morningstar Investment Services.

"Seems like a huge potential conflict, with at least an appearance of impropriety," Milo Benningfield, an independent financial adviser with Benningfield Financial Advisors, said in an email to Reuters.

Morningstar said it will rank its own portfolios and disclose which ETF model portfolios it runs.

ZSL really took off

2011-09-23T22:21:00.002-04:00

was recommended on August 24: ZSL & DZZ : great time to short silver and gold

ZSL on 24-Aug-2011

Performance gold vs silver - 12 months and 6 months

2011-09-23T21:43:00.000-04:00

6 months

12 months

Weekly Best Performing ETFs (wk 37 : 9/12/11 – 9/16/11)

2011-09-18T18:14:00.000-04:00

Symbol	% Wk Change	Description
TYH	21.74	DIREXION SHARES TECHNOLOGY BULL 3X SHARES
USD	20.01	PROSHARES ULTRA SEMICONDUCTOR
TNA	18.37	DIREXION SHARES SMALL CAP BULL 3X SHARES
BGU	16.61	DIREXION SHARES LARGE CAP BULL 3X SHARES
FAS	16.51	DIREXION SHARES 3X BULL ETF
MWJ	16.32	DIREXION SHARES MID CAP BULL 3X SHARES
QLD	13.42	PROSHARES ULTRA QQQ
UWM	12.07	PROSHARES ULTRA RUSELL 2000
ERX	11.66	DIREXION SHARES ENERGY BULL 3X SHARES
UYG	11.18	PROSHARES ULTRA FINANCIALS
SSO	11.07	PROSHARES ULTRA S&P 500
RSU	10.47	RYDEX 2X S&P 500 ETF
MVV	10.43	PROSHARES ULTRA MIDCAP400
DDM	9.64	PROSHARES ULTRA DOW30
EWG	9.26	ISHARES MSCI GERMANY
DIG	8.46	PROSHARES ULTRA OIL & GAS
EWP	7.86	ISHARES MSCI SPAIN
URE	7.8	PROSHARES ULTRA REAL ESTATE
UYM	7.19	PROSHARES ULTRA BASIC MATERIALS
VGT	7.05	VANGUARD INFO TECH INDEX
PBS	7.03	POWERSHARES MEDIA PORTFOLIO
QTEC	7.02	FT NASDAQ 100 TECHNOLOGY INDEX FUND
IYW	6.97	ISHARES TECH SECTOR
IYT	6.76	ISHARES DOW JONES US TRANPORT IDX FUND
KRE	6.69	SPDR KBW REGIONAL BANKING ETF
XLY	6.64	AMEX SPDR CONSUMER DIS SELECT INDEX
QQQ	6.42	POWERSHARES QQQ
XLK	6.35	AMEX SPDR TECHNOLOGY SELECT INDEX
EZU	6.33	ISHARES MSCI EMU INDEX FUND
KBE	6.31	SPDR KBW BANK ETF
FDN	6.26	FIRST TRUST DJ INTERNET
FXD	6.24	FIRST TRUST ISE CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY ALPHADX
IWO	6.19	ISHARES RUSSELL 2000 GROWTH IND
VBK	6.12	VANGUARD MSCI US SM CAP GROWTH
XRT	6.02	SPDR SPDR S&P RETAIL ETF
IWM	5.96	ISHARES RUSSELL 2000 IDX FUND

See Artremis for ETF year-to-date performance