An interesting split emerged among the most searched exchange traded fund tickers on ETF Trends this week. Six of the 10 most searched tickers will come as no surprise to investors that paid even scant attention to the financial markets this week while the remaining four are new faces on our weekly most searched updates.
With this week’s update we’re going to take a different approach because of some obvious similarities among the most searched ETFs. For example, this week’s list is going to be expanded because if we limit it to the top-10, four ETFs, all with similar search trends, are Russia funds. The Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSEArca: RSX), iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF (NYSEArca: ERUS) and rival Russia products occupy the second-through fifth spots on this week’s list.[Russia ETFs Sweep the Podium]
Not even Vladimir Putin could prevent the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NasdaqGM: IBB) from being this week’s most searched ETF on ETF Trends.
IBB, the largest biotech ETF by assets, closed the week down more than 6%, and more importantly, below $230 a share, indicating a wave of technical selling could be afoot. [Biotech ETFs Messing With Fire]
Staying in the department of “not so surprising,” the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWZ) was the next most searched emerging markets ETF after the aforementioned Russia funds and with good reason. Despite Standard & Poor’s downgrading Brazil’s credit rating earlier in the week, EWZ jumped almost 7% and is now flirting with $45 for the first time since late 2013. [Brazil ETFs Survive S&P Downgrade]
For the first time in weeks, the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEArca: VIG) is not this week’s most searched dividend ETF. That honor goes to the Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF (NYSEArca: SYLD), which ascended to the number six spot overall following a couple of mentions of the fund this week. [A Nifty Shareholder Yield ETF]