Bargain-hunting during the holiday season is a national pastime, and internet shopping has been increasing over the years. There’s an exchange traded fund (ETF) that can enable you to benefit from our newfound national thriftiness.
Sites such as Amazon.com Inc. (NasdaqGS: AMZN) and eBay Inc. (NasdaqGS: EBAY) are providing cost-conscious shoppers with the means to sniff out popular items at low costs, writes Don Dion for TheStreet. On Thursday, Amazon stated that third-quarter earnings jumped 69% on improved sales across all its product lines, reports Dan Gallagher for MarketWatch. (Can you find bargains with a luxury ETF?)
One way to gain investment exposure on the internet holiday shopping bonanza is through First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index (NYSEArca: FDN), currently up 69.2% year-to-date.
FDN includes 41 companies that generate a minimum of 50% of their annual sales from the internet. Companies included have a stock price of greater than $10 and market cap of at least $100 million. The fund has a net expense ratio of 0.6%. (Is a fresh approach all it takes with retail ETFs?)
The top 10 holdings make up 51% of the total assets. Some major holdings include: AMZN at 5.6% , EBAY at 6.5%, Google Inc. (NasdaqGS: GOOG) at 9.8%, Yahoo! Inc. (NasdaqGS: YHOO) at 4.9%, Priceline.com Inc. (NasdaqGS: PCLN) at 4.2% and Expedia Inc. (NasdaqGS: EXPE) at 3.7%.
Sector allocations include: software, 24.8%; hardware, 4.2%; media, 1.4%; telecommunications, 38.4%; consumer services, 22.6%; business services, 2.5%; and financial services, 6.1%.
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Max Chen contributed to this article.