Tag: First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index ETF (FDN)

Amazon's October Drop Hurting ETFs

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Most recent data shows 246 different Exchange Traded Fund’s owned more than 24.7 million shares of Amazon.com (AMZN). But, the companies recent 20.9% decline in the month of October alone, (Amazon opened October trading at $2,021 per share and closed the month trading at $1,598 per share, or a 20.9% decline) has certainly had an effect on not only those 246 different ETFs and their investors, but also those investors whom may have directly purchased shares of the company. Furthermore, due to its market capitalization, it was a very heavily weighted stock in some large ETFs, which makes its recent decline even more painful.

Some of the hardest hit ETFs over the last month was the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) because Amazon was its second, now third, largest holding and SPY was the single largest owner of Amazon stock. ProShares Online Retail ETF (ONLN) had 22% of its assets in Amazon as of late, while the Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR) and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) both had more than 20% of their assets in Amazon.

Throughout the ETF world, there where eight different ETFs which had more than 10% of their assets in Amazon in recent weeks. Most were in the consumer discretionary sector, but a few internet focused ETFs such as the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ), and the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index ETF (FDN) had more than 9% of their assets in Amazon. Continue reading "Amazon's October Drop Hurting ETFs" →

Top ETFs For The First Half Of 2018

Posted on by Matt Thalman

2018 has been a wild year with the bursting of the Bitcoin Bubble, some President Trump induced rallies and declines, trade war fears, North Korean diplomacy and the Facebook data scandal. But most all of, after the stock market rallying for years, its beginning to show signs of sluggishness as the S&P 500 is up a mere 0.84% during the first half of 2018.

But despite the weakness of the overall market, some investors, with the help of a few Exchange Traded Funds have made money during the first half of the year. Let us take a look at the top four, non-leveraged, non-VIX ETF’s during the first half of 2018.

The best performing non-leveraged, non-VIX ETF was the Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF (PSCH) which rose by 30.62%. Over the last 12 months, PSCH is up more than 45% after climbing an additional 16% during the most recent three months. The fund owns small cap stocks which operate in the healthcare sector and currently more then 75% of the assets are in companies that have a market cap smaller than $2.7 billion. The fund tends to lean towards healthcare equipment companies and healthcare providers more so than drug companies. The averagely weighted market cap is just $2.5 billion. The fund currently has $752 million in assets under management and 74 holdings. The top three holdings are Chemed Corp. (CHE), Haemonetics Corp. (HAE), and Neogen Corp. (NEOG). The funds top ten stocks make up 33% of assets, and it will cost an investor 0.29% to own PSCH on a yearly basis.

An aging population which is living longer than any other generation before it tends to be good for the healthcare industry. While PSCH may not end the year as the top ETF, it is indeed one you could buy now and feel comfortable owning for years to come. Continue reading "Top ETFs For The First Half Of 2018" →