Internet ETFs Poised to Benefit from Holiday Shopping

Finally, a little holiday cheer comes the way of exchange traded funds (ETFs). While brick-and-mortar retailers and the ETFs that track them might be drowning their troubles in egg nog, internet ETFs could actually get a lift from the holiday shopping. More and more people are using the internet to do their gift-giving, if Amazon.com (AMZ) is any indication, according to the Associated Press.

Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Scott Devitt bumped Amazon up from "Sell" to "Buy." They see Amazon.com as the best-positioned in the e-commerce and Internet sector.

Meanwhile, eBay (EBAY) analysts are saying that listings growth quarter-to-date is looking flat. However, Only eBay at Seeking Alpha is taking a different view of things. By looking at quarter-over-quarter listings, things don’t appear to be nearly as bleak. The author suspects that recent changes to the buying and selling experience on eBay will provide a merry holiday surprise for patient investors.

Among the ETFs that count Amazon.com and eBay as their holdings are:

• First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index (FDN), up 15.4% year-to-date. Both Amazon and eBay make up 10% of the fund.
• PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ), up 19.5% year-to-date. Amazon makes up 1.3% of the fund, while eBay makes up 1.9%.
• Internet HOLDRs (HHH), up 24.7% year-to-date. Amazon is 25% of the fund, while eBay is 28.5%.