Each day, ETFtrends.com publishes news, strategy and commentary on ETFs in the realms of Commodities, Currency, Equities and Smart-Beta to name a few.
Here’s a look at the 10 most read articles of the week on ETF Trends, Aug. 22-26, 2016.
Click the headline to read the full article – enjoy!
1. Technical Sell-Off Grips Gold Miner ETFs
Ahead of the Federal Reserve announcement at its annual Jackson Hole meeting, gold prices dipped to a four-week low, with gold miners and sector-related exchange traded funds breaking below a key level.
The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDX) dropped 4.5% Wednesday, plummeting below its support at the short-term, 50-day simple moving average.
On the other hand, nvestors who hedged bets on miners with bearish options struck gold. On Wednesday, the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: DUST) surged 14.2%, Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: JDST) jumped 15.9%, ProShares UltraShort Gold Miners (NYSEArca: GDXS) gained 8.0% and ProShares UltraShort Junior Miners (NYSEArca: GDJS) increased 10.9%.
2. Junk Bond ETFs to Diminish Default Energy Producer Risk
Credit spreads on speculative-grade junk bonds have rallied back to levels last seen before the sell-off in 2015.
Huge oscillations in oil prices have caused spreads to widen in recent weeks, but junk bond investors who are wary of credit risk among the more leveraged oil producers can turn to a relatively new high-yield, ex-energy exchange traded fund.
The iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: HYG) gained 10.9% and the SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEArca: JNK) rose 11.6% year-to-date, rallying above their 2015 highs and regaining most of the lost ground earlier this year as diminishing volatility and an extended low-rate environment fueled a more risk-on attitude among fixed-income investors.
3. The “3 C’s” Driving Emerging Markets
Following five years of emerging market (EM) equities being the worst performing major asset class, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index has truly “emerged” in 2016 (pun intended), up 16.6% YTD through last Friday.
We have been generally cautious on EM for the last few years, but since March of this year we have been building our weightings up, especially in our longer timeframe portfolios. We are now overweight relative to our composite benchmarks, though our shorter timeframe portfolios still have only a small absolute weighting for now.
4. Principal Funds Launch Themed Strategic Beta ETFs on Nasdaq
Principal Funds launched two strategic beta exchange traded funds on Nasdaq today for investors looking for portfolio growth potential.
The Principal Healthcare Innovators Index ETF (Nasdaq: BTEC) and the Principal Millennials Index ETF (Nasdaq: GENY) are examples of thematic investing.
The funds are aimed at investors who want to take advantage of long-term trends or invest in companies that align with their personal beliefs.