A new “smart grid” industry is coming about and First Trust/Clean Edge Smart Grid ETF (NasdaqGM: GRID) aims to be the first to target the emerging sector, according to Maureen Brody for Ignites. GRID seeks to reflect the NASDAQ OMX Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index, which includes companies engaged in all components of the smart grid. (More plays for Obama’s energy plan).

The fund will have a higher weighting, around 80%, for companies that are smart grid “pure plays” and a lower weighting, about 20%, for big companies that only have a smaller vested interest in the smart grid enterprise.

The ETF is made up of 29 companies. Companies are required to have a minimum float-adjusted market capitalization of $100 million and a three-month average daily trading volume of $500K.

The top 10 holdings include: SMA Solar Technology AG, 11.6%; Schneider Electric S.A., 9.0%; NGK Insulators, 7.4%; ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC), 7.3%; Quanta Services Inc. (NYSE: PWR), 7.2%; Itron Inc. (NasdaqGS: ITRI), 4.3%; Echelon Corporation (NasdaqGM: ELON), 3.9%; EnerNOC, Inc. (NasdaqGM: ENOC), 3.8%; American Superconductor Corporation (NasdaqGS: AMSC), 3.6%; Power-One Inc. (NasdaqGM: PWER), 3.6%. (“Smart Grid” plans power up tech sector).

For more information on utilities, visit our utilities category. The evolution of the smart grid can also be played with other utility ETFs, including:

• iShares Dow Jones U.S. Utilities (NYSEArca: IDU): up 4.2% year-to-date

• Vanguard Utilities ETF (NYSEArca: VPU): up 3.4% year-to-date

• iShares S&P Global Utilities (JXI): up 2.0% year-to-date

Max Chen contributed to this article.

Could the industry’s run be winding down? A poor economy, very low natural gas prices and lower export demand have all contributed to the diminished total demand for coal, according to The Business Insider. Additionally, producers failed to match the market with production cuts and inventories are estimated to stand at a minimum of 50 million tons of excess inventory in the United States.

Nevertheless, coal equities have done quite well for the year, with coal companies doubling or tripling off spring lows. The industry is currently trying to salvage revenue by drastically cutting production and an optimistic forecast puts the resolution of the glut by mid-2010.

A heavier hand by federal regulators has improved miner safety, but the high costs attached to the regulations has put many small companies out of business in Central Appalachia. The Environmental Protection Agency is also scrutinizing mine permits, which will likely raise production costs and restrain supply in the future. (Why Coal ETFs?)

Meanwhile, coal ETFs could be adding a new holding if Rio Tinto’s (NYSE: RTP) IPO of its U.S. coal business, Cloud Peak (NYSE: CLD), goes through, Benzinga reports.

For more information on coal, visit our coal category.

• Market Vectors Coal ETF (NYSEArca: KOL): which is up 133.1% year-to-date

• PowerShares Global Coal Portfolio (NASDAQ: PKOL): which is up 125.8% year-to-date.

Max Chen contributed to this article.

Gary Gordon of the ETF Expert states that the sector still remains weak because of the ongoing issues with the credit crisis, toxic assets, TARP, residential and commercial real estate defaults, foreclosures and subprime, just to name a few. (More on the challenges faced by financials).

Banks continue to fail in record numbers.  To prevent this from happening again, regulators are pushing for tougher changes in U.S. financial regulations, as the Senate’s top banking legislator on Tuesday proposed a new super-cop to police banks, a systemic risk agency and strong consumer protections, reports Kevin Drawbaugh of Reuters. At the end of the day, this new policy would create a single bank regulator and eliminate two. (More on financials).

Only time will tell if the proposed regulation passes and the sector benefits, but as of now, some think financials are weak.  The SPDR Select Sector Fund Financial (NYSEArca: XLF) is up 19.4%  year-to-date.

If you’re itching to play in the sector, mind the trend lines and have your strategy in place in case hiccups hit the funds. (How to follow trends).

For more stories on financials, visit our financial category.

Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.

Stocks and many exchange-traded funds (ETFs) lost ground for a third straight day as investors grew increasingly uneasy about a recent move away from riskier assets and into U.S. Treasuries.

As investors moved money out of stocks, they moved money into safer investments like Treasury bills, report Stephen Bernard and Tim Paradis for the Associated Press. The yield on the three-month T-bill today was 0.02%, after falling to a yield of 0.005% late Thursday. In fact, yields briefly turned negative Thursday as demand jumped for this safest of short-term investments. The SPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (NYSE: BIL) has a year-to-date return of 0.22%, with a yield of 0.28%. (For more stories on Treasuries, see our treasury bonds category).

Disappointing results from Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), the world’s number-three PC brand, weighed on investor sentiment. Dell is recovering from the global slowdown a bit slower than its competitors because of its reliance on commercial versus consumer business, writes Kelvin Soh for Reuters. Dell did say, however, that PC demand has picked up following the launch of Windows 7 from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). The Technology Select SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLK) and the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index Fund (NYSE: IYW) are both just down fractionally for the day. However, Dell’s stock is currently down more than 8%. (For more stories on the technology sector, see our technology category).

Home-building giant DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) said today that orders surged 26% on a unit basis and that it narrowed its fiscal fourth-quarter loss. However, the company did miss analyst estimates and took hefty land-related charges, reports Dawn Wotapka for the Dow Jones Newswires. The company went on say that conditions are still challenging in the industry because of rising unemployment, weak consumer confidence and high inventory levels. The stock is currently down more than 9%, while the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE: XHB) is down 2% today. (For more stories on the homebuilding industry, see our homebuilders category).

Tony D’Altorio contributed to this article.

On the one hand, unemployment rates remain elevated, companies continue to implement lean measures and overall consumer confidence is down. On the other hand, the largest four investment banks have earned $22.6 billion so far for this year, recovering much faster than anyone had envisioned they would. (More on banks).

Two reasons behind Wall Street’s success this year are the demise of several firms, leaving only the fittest around, and low interest rates, which makes borrowing relatively cheap, states Walter Hamilton of The Los Angeles Times.

How can you go about dusting yourself off and rebuilding your portfolio? Here are six strategies you can use. While you’re thinking about the rebuilding process, it’s also important to evaluate your past and figure out where you went wrong and where you went right. Here are 10 tips for becoming a better investor.

As a result of the recent uptrend seen on the Street, one can capitalize by investing in some of the firms that are showing renewed vigor.  The SPDR KBW Capital Markets (NYSEArca: KCE) is one such tool. KCE focuses its holdings on some these investment banks and is up 45.2% year-to-date. (More on financials).

For more stories on strategy, visit our trend following category.

Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.

Three reasons the fund could continue to move as we enter into the thick of the holiday season:

• First, the Associated Press recently announced that Viacom (NYSE: VIA) won exclusive rights to air “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” on its MTV and BET cable networks starting in 2011.  The movie depicting the life of Michael Jackson has already drawn an astonishing amount of revenue. (More on leisure & entertainment).

• Secondly, Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is expected to release a new version of A Christmas Carol, which is expected to gross nearly $200 million. (Disney’s change of pace).  Additionally, in more good box-office news today, Sony reported that 2012 collected $5 million more overseas than it estimated yesterday, giving the disaster flick a final worldwide weekend gross of $230.4 million, reports The Los Angeles Times.

• Lastly, it appears that consumers are starting travel and book trips more, but are still counting their pennies.  This is evident in the performance of Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN), which reported third-quarter sales and profits which topped analysts expectations and sent the company’s stock price to a nine-year high. Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) also reported earnings rose 23% on increases in car and hotel revenue in the third quarter.

A good way to play this is through the PowerShares Dynamic Leisure & Entertainment (NYSEArca:PEJ), which is up 39% year-to-date; VIA is 5.2%; DIS is 4.8%; PCLN is 5%.

For more stories on leisure and entertainment, visit our leisure and entertainment category.

Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.

A reputable biotechnology company has filed for Chapter 11 this week, deCODE Genetics Inc (NYSE: DCGN), the company that famously compiled the genetic code of nearly every Icelander for research. The company crushed under $200 million in debt and investors may have to call it a wash, reports Brettt Arends for The Wall Street Journal. (What does biotech need to thrive?)

For other companies in the sector, the outlook is looking brighter. IPOs are coming back and some of the speculative companies have surged off their lows.

Talecris Biotherapeutics (NYSE: TLCR) just raised $950 million, a sign that investors are ready to wade back into the markets again.

Biotech can be a risky sector with mixed investment results. Many companies are working on projects that may one day bring profits, but those projects may not see the light of day for years, if ever.

That’s where ETFs come in. How can anyone know which biotechnology companies will be winners in the long run? ETFs help spread out the risk and eliminate the need for guesswork and single-stock picking. (Read more about the biotechnology sector).

If you decide this sector is right for your investment needs, go in with a strategy in place and a stop-loss in mind. (How to follow the trends).

For more stories about biotechnology, visit our biotechnology category.

• PowerShares Dynamic Biotech & Genome (NYSEArca: PBE): up 18.2% year-to-date

• SPDR S&P Biotechnology (NYSEArca: XBI): down 4.5% year-to-date

The U.S. index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) rose 0.3% in October, marking the seventh consecutive monthly gain, while the Philly Fed regional survey of business activity rose to 16.7 in November, a bit better than expected, reports Bob Willis for Bloomberg. Claims for jobless benefits remained at a 10-month low.

Semiconductor stocks are leading technology stocks lower after a downgrade on 10 semiconductor stocks, including Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) – which is down nearly 5.5% after the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch downgrade, reported Tenzin Pema for Reuters. Merrill said the supply of chips is growing faster than the demand, putting earnings at risk. So far in today’s trading, the Semiconductor HOLDRS (NYSE: SMH) is down about 4% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (NYSE: XSD) is also down about 4%. (For more stories on the semiconductor industry, please see our semiconductor category).

A computer glitch this morning at the Atlanta airport, the busiest in the nation, caused cascading flight delays across the nation, reported Brian Knowlton of The New York Times. Air traffic controllers were forced to program flight plans manually. So far in today’s trading, the iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average Index Fund (NYSE: IYT) is down nore than 2% and  the Claymore/NYSE Arca Airline ETF (NYSE: FAA) is down more than 3%. (For more news on the airline industry, please see our airline category).

On the corporate front, there was more downbeat employment news. AOL, which is being spun off from Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), is asking their employee base of about 6,900 for 2,500 volunteers to be laid off, reports Nat Worden of the Dow Jones Newswires. If the voluntary program is unsuccessful, there will be involuntary layoffs announced by AOL. (For more stories on the media industry, see our media category).

Tony D’Altorio contributed to this article.

Let’s start with the bad news.

Commercial real estate loan failures in the mid-sized regional banking industry have become a thorn in the economy’s foot, writes Andrew Smith for Newsday. According to a Wall Street rating agency’s report, commercial real estate failures will likely affect smaller banks because most of these banks have a larger portion of their portfolios allotted to commercial real estate loans. (Why regional banks are faltering).

Non-performing loans are on the increase and the Fitch report noted that commercial mortgage defaults are accelerating, which has been evidenced by the quarterly reports of many banks.

On the bright side, regional banks could become more dominant in the United States as policymakers reassess risk in the financial system and enact more strict regulations, reports  Karey Wutkowski for Reuters. The notions of “too-big-to-fail” and “systemic risk” may change the country’s banking model to accommodate more mid-sized banks, says Denis Salamone, chief operating officer of Hudson City Bancorp.

For more information on regional banks, visit our regional banks category.

• SPDR KBW Regional Bank ETF (NYSEArca: KRE): down 26% year-to-date

• Regional Bank HOLDRs (NYSEArca: RKH): up 5.9% year-to-date

Max Chen contributed to this article.

]]> http://www.etftrends.com/2009/11/regional-bank-etfs-the-bad-and-the-good.html/feed/ 0 http://www.etftrends.com/2009/11/holiday-travel-takes-flight-will-etfs.html http://www.etftrends.com/2009/11/holiday-travel-takes-flight-will-etfs.html#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0000 Tom Lydon http://www.etftrends.com/?p=20954 It’s that time of year again. Millions of Americans will fork over their hard-earned cash and stand in long lines at the airport, all to visit their families and celebrate the holidays. But will exchange traded funds (ETFs) reap the rewards of the increased air traffic?

Holiday travel is expected to be down this year for the first time in a decade. Around $4.05 billion is expected to be lost, but it may not be for the reasons you’d think. Although the economy is still on shaky ground, many travelers may also be planning to stay home because of the H1N1 flu virus, reports Meeting News.

Airline fees could be the final nail in the industry’s coffin. Many carriers continue to slam customers with fees by exploiting peak travel days around the holidays, a move that is counterproductive to the business climate. Most people traveling still want to spend as little as possible, and fees could be a deterrent.

According to the South Florida Business Journal, there are some reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season. Nearly 45% of Americans plan to take a vacation in the period beginning Thanksgiving week through March 2010. Conditions appear to be stabilizing, a representative from Deloitte noted.

For more stories about leisure and entertainment, visit our leisure and entertainemnt category.

• PowerShares Dynamic Leisure & Entertainment (NYSEArca: PEJ): up 39.5% year-to-date; Priceline 5%; Expedia 4.8%

• Claymore/NYSE Arca Airline (NYSEArca: FAA): up 13.5% in the last three months; Southwest Airlines 15.3%; Delta 15.2%; Continental Airlines 14.1%