Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla (NasdaqGS: TSLA) are almost 6% today on volume that appears poised to eclipse the daily average in a move that some technical analysts are calling a breakout for shares of the electric car maker.
Tesla is flirting with $218 and if the stock can muster a close there or higher, it would be the first time it has done so in over two months. Musk’s SolarCity (NasdaqGS: SCTY) is not exactly slacking off today. Shares of the solar company are up 3% and appear poised to close at their highest levels of June.
Those moves are proving to be good news for de facto “Elon Musk ETFs,” those being the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund(NasdaqGS: QCLN) and the Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy ETF (NYSEArca: GEX). QCLN is higher by 2.1% today while GEX is up 1.1%.
GEX was one of last year’s top-performing global ETFs while QCLN’s 2013 gain of 82.5% made it one of the year’s best non-leveraged ETFs. In the case of both ETFs, those superlatives can be largely attributed to the funds’ exposure to Tesla and SolarCity. In early February, Tesla and SolarCity combined for almost 16% of QCLN’s weight. [Musk ETFs in Focus on Telsa Earnings]
Entering today, Tesla was down 12% over the past 90 days while SolarCity had plunged 29% over the same time. Those tumbles trimmed QCLN’s combined weight to the Musk stocks to 12.7%, according to First Trust data.
GEX entered Monday with a combined 10.5% to Tesla and SolarCity. Tesla was once GEX’s largest holding, but the stock’s aforementioned decline has relegated the stock to the third spot in GEX, nearly 500 basis points behind Vestas Wind Systems, the ETF’s largest holding.
It is worth remembering that, particularly in the case of Tesla, the performance of Musk stock has had an important impact on flows to and from GEX and QCLN. The two ETFs have just under $233 million in combined assets under management, $67.4 million of which entered the funds last year. Almost $31 million has flowed into the two ETFs since the start of 2014. [Convertibles ETF has Exposure to Tesla Bonds]
Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy ETF
