Commodities investors by now know the tale of woe in the oil patch. With the U.S. dollar maintaining a torrid pace, oil prices have felt the brunt of the dollar’s wrath as highlighted by a 12.3% decline for the United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO) over the past 90 days.
Natural gas, as measured by the United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca: UNG), has been nearly as bad as oil. UNG, which, no pun intended, was on fire earlier this year, has wilted to the tune of a 9.3% tumble over the past 90 days. And that has been particularly bad news for the equity-based First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index Fund (NYSEArca: FCG). [Natural Gas Woes Hamper This ETF]
As we reported earlier this year, FCG was slow to respond to the early 2014 rally in natural gas futures and UNG with a lethargic start to the year for equities being the culprit behind FCG’s sluggish start. To be fair, FCG would earnestly join the energy sector that started late in the first quarter. From its March nadir to its June peak, FCG was one of the best-performing sector or industry ETFs of any type, soaring more than 23% over that period. [Natty’s Rally no Help for This ETF]
However, FCG has subsequently reminded investors that it is sensitive to repudiation of both equities and natural gas futures. Remember, FCG started the year slowly because stocks did the same. Now that stocks and energy commodities are falling in unison, FCG is being crimped in significant fashion.
On Wednesday, 17 exchange traded products with some form of energy exposure, either equities or futures, have printed new 52-week lows. FCG is one of those 17. Over the past three months, the only non-leveraged ETF that has been worse than FCG is the Global X Silvers Miners ETF (NYSEArca: SIL), according to ETF Screen data.