When an exchange traded fund is the fourth-largest in the U.S. and home to $45.4 billion in assets under management, doing things quietly is not always easy.
Somehow, some way, the PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGS: QQQ) has managed to gain 7% this month without much fanfare. As one member of the StockTwits community pointed out Tuesday, QQQ’s 10-day winning streak prompted a 6.5% gain, the ETF’s best two-week return since December 2011.
Some investors are clearly hopping aboard QQQ’s train as $664.11 million flowed into the ETF in the week ending Feb. 17, according to PowerShares data.
QQQ has been helped by the usual suspects, including Apple (NasdaqGM: AAPPL). The iPad maker is almost 12% of QQQ’s weight, by far the ETF’s largest holding, and is up more than 8% this month. Google (NasdaqGM: GOOG), QQQ’s second-largest holding, is up almost 7% since the start of February. [Of Google and ETFs]
Give QQQ some credit. It has been more than twice as good as Microsoft (NasdaqGM: MSFT) and roughly three times as good as Amazon (NasdaqGM: AMZN) in February. Qualcomm (NasdaqGM: QCOM), QQQ’s fifth-largest holding, is up just 3.1% this month.
Yes, technology is still the primary driver of QQQ’s performance as the sector accounts for 56.8% of the ETF’s weight, but the Nasdaq Composite has changed over the years.