If you think your internet could be faster, you’re probably right: the United States ranks 15th among industrialized nations in average internet speed. Japan, South Korea, Finland and France round out the top four. It only takes two minutes to download a movie in Japan; here, it can take two hours. In Japan, they pay about the same as we do.
The Broadband HOLDRs (BDH) have been up sharply in the last month, up 16.3%. Year-to-date, it’s up 5%. Its top holding is Qualcomm (QCOM), which makes up 52.3% of the fund. Motorola (MOT) is 11.3%, and Corning (GLW) is 16.6%.
Internet HOLDRs (HHH) have also been trading higher, up 5.4% in the last month while it’s down 14.8% year-to-date. Its top components are Amazon (AMZN), 25%; Ebay (EBAY), 24.3%; Yahoo (YHOO), 23.7%.