Fifteen of XShares‘ line of HealthShares ETFs will close down, and their last trading day will be Sept. 19.

XShares President Jeff Feldman tells us it’s a simple matter of marketplace demand. “We were not generating assets in several of them, and they’re expensive to keep open.”

Closing the funds doesn’t mean that XShares didn’t believe in the products, but an acknowledgement that perhaps timing is everything. “We still believe our structure was right,” Feldman says, “and our timing was bad. So we decided to shutter some of them.”

When an ETF announces a closing, it follows an orderly process and investors are given plenty of notice before it actually takes place. Thirty-seven ETFs have closed this year, and we know that closing announcements tend to bring out the worriers: is the ETF industry in trouble? Are they a passing fad? But every industry has its successes and failures, and not every product to land in the marketplace can be a hit.

The entire line won’t close: four funds the marketplace seems to like will remain open. Meanwhile, Feldman says, they’ll revisit the old funds from time to time to see if they deserve another shot in the future.

The remaining funds will be:

• HealthShares Cancer (HHK)
  
• HealthShares European Drugs (HRJ)
  
• HealthShares Diagnostics (HHD)
• HealthShares Enabling Technologies (HHV)

HealthShares Enabling Technologies, however, is going to be renamed the Drug Discovery Tools Fund, and keep the same ticker symbol. A new fund will be joining the fold, as well: the HealthShares Asian Health, but it hasn’t begun trading.

Lower expense ratios for the remaining funds will be put in place, effective Oct. 1: for the cancer, diagnostic and drug discovery ETFs, the new expenses will be 0.60%, down from 0.75%. The European drugs will be 0.72%, down from 0.95%. The Asian health fund will be 0.95%. The four remaining funds will also get revamped benchmarks and number of constituents they’ll track, according to Murray Coleman for Index Universe.

The funds closing are:

• HealthShares Autoimmune-Inflammation (HHA)
• HealthShares Cardio Devices (HHE)
• HealthShares Cardiology (HRD)
• HealthShares Composite (HHQ)
• HealthShares Dermatology & Wound Care (HRW)
• HealthShares Emerging Cancer (HHJ)
• HealthShares European Medical Products & Devices (HHT)
• HealthShares GI/Gender Health (HHU)
• HealthShares Infectious Disease (HHG)
• HealthShares Metabolic-Endocrine Disorders (HHM)
• HealthShares Neuroscience (HHN)
• HealthShares Opthalmology (HHZ)
• HealthShares Orthopedic Repair (HHP)
• HealthShares Patient Care Services (HHB)
• HealthShares Respiratory/Pulmonary (HHR)

Our national health care problem has become one focus of the presidential campaign, and in the long run, it could benefit exchange traded funds (ETFs).

In this competitive global economy, lay-offs, restructurings, downsizing, and reengineering – whichever euphemism you like – have become part of manager’s job duties. This globalization and free trade is going to benefit our economy, says Chris Farrell for BusinessWeek. But it can also bring job insecurity.

The U.S. health care system rotates around the fact that if you lose your job, then your family loses health care benefits. And businesses have come to view health benefits as a growing expense, rather than a benefit of employment. What is more frightening is that total health care spending in the U.S. by both public and private sources is expected to expand from 16% GDP to 40% GDP in 2040. So, Medicare becomes part of the problem, instead of a solution as once intended.

At least when it comes to health care, both Obama and McCain largely seem to agree that Americans spend too much and that a change is needed, reports Reuters. Their proposals differ on how they’ll address the problem. McCain wants to slow down the double-digit growth in health care spending, and Obama wants to reduce health care spending by 8% and save each taxpayer $2,500.

ETFs focused on one of the sickest industries in America:

• HealthShares NeuroScience (HHN), up 4.8% year-to-date
• iShares S&P Global Health Care Sector Index Fund (IXJ), down 5.5% year-to-date
• iShares Dow Jones US Health Care (IYH), down 4.5% year-to-date
• SPDR S&P Biotech (XBI), up 12.7% year-to-date

Both Elan Corp. (ELN) and Wyeth (WYE) said complete data from the midstage trial of their experimental drug for Alzheimer’s disease supports their decision to move the drug into more advanced studies before a definite conclusion can be made, reports Shirley S. Wang for The Wall Street Journal.

The drug, bapineuzumab, had inconclusive test results that may not move expert scientists and investors. While it did show effectiveness in cleansing the brain of a substance many believe plays a role in the disease, patients on the whole showed no improvement in their symptoms.

Both companies decided to go on to Phase III, which can cost at least $100 million.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, surpassing diabetes. At least 5.2 million people live with the disease, and 10 million baby boomers will develop it. The cost of treating Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia exceeds $148 billion per year.

ETFs that could benefit if this drug ultimately proves to be effective in the treatment of this disease include:

• SPDR S&P Pharmceutical (XPH): down 3% year-to-date; Wyeth 4.8%
• Pharmceutical HOLDRs (PPH): down 13.3% year-to-date; Wyeth 7.5%
• HealthShares Neuroscience (HHN): up 9.2% year-to-date; Elan 6.3%