It has been a decent though not spectacular for the major Internet exchange traded funds. For example, the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSEArca: FDN) and the PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio (NasdaqGS: PNQI) are up an average of about 7%, but that lags the 8.6% returned by the NASDAQ-100.
PNQI tracks the largest and most liquid U.S.-listed companies engaged in internet-related businesses and employs a modified market cap-weighted indexing methodology based on the market cap ranking of the underling index securities.
With the holiday shopping season here, FDN could have some tailwinds as U.S. consumers increasingly turn to the convenience of online shopping over traditional brick and mortar retailers.
Online retail outlets or the e-commerce business seems to be flourishing. Amazon (NasdaqGS: AMZN) revealed strong quarterly growth in both earnings and revenues. Online bazaar eBay (NasdaqGS: EBAY) impressed investors after management raised guidance and reported revenue beats.