An exchange traded fund (ETF) is a basket of stocks that track an underlying index. Sometimes it can be difficult to judge what stocks are actually held in the ETF by the title of the fund. Just as you can research what stocks are held in a mutual fund, you can do the same for an ETF. Matt Krantz for USA Today reports that there are many online tools and resources to help you do this. One site that can help with this is ETFconnect.com. To find out which stocks make up the ETF, you type in the ticker symbol of the fund in question and click the "go" button. Then a page appears where you’ll want to go to "sector and holdings summary." There you will find a list of the top 10 different companies and the percentage of their allocation. Most ETFs have the dollar value of the holdings listed too. Another site that shows the holdings of ETFs in a similar search manner is Morningstar.com. For a full list of holdings, visit the ETF providers’ site.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.