With all the attention being paid to emerging markets equities and the next move, if any, by the Federal Reserve, price action in some sector and industry exchange traded funds may not be getting the usual, thoughtful treatment.
That should not be the case with one of 2013’s highest fliers, the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NasdaqGS: SOCL). SOCL lost 2.3% Monday on volume that was more than twice the daily average, extending its losing streak to four days in the process. In the past week, SOCL has shed nearly 8%.
As the lone social media fund and one of the ETFs with the most significant weights to story stocks Facebook (NasdaqGM: FB), LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), SOCL has a following. Followers of the fund are apt to remember that the last time SOCL experienced a retrenchment on par with the current down move, late October into early November, the ETF slumped from just over $21 to around $18.50. Two months later, SOCL was trading north of $22.
It is possible this recent move to the downside is setting up to be another social media buying opportunity, but this time around, there is something to consider: SOCL’s China exposure. The world’s largest Internet market is 29% of SOCL’s weight, but what was an advantage as recently as a month or two ago is now vulnerability as emerging markets equities stumble.
Like other some other niche ETFs, SOCL stands as an example of a fund that is not explicit emeging markets play, but one that is nonetheless vulnerable to investors’ current disdain for developing economies. [EM Falls Will Hurt These Non-EM ETFs]
“SOCL has broken through its 50 day moving average for the first time since early December of last year, largely on weakness from top components Tencent Holdings and Sina (NasdaqGM: SINA) stemming from China’s broad equity sell-off,” said Street One Financial in a note out Monday. [Not so Social With This ETF]
China is not the only reason to keep an eye on SOCL in the near-term. Starting Wednesday and going through Feb. 6, Facebook, Google (NasdaqGM: GOOG), Twitter and LinkedIn deliver earnings. Those stocks combine for over 30% of SOCL’s weight.
Global X Social Media Index ETF
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post. Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of Facebook and Google.