Stocks were rattled by slumping commodities prices and a strong dollar, factors that sent the S&P 500 to its third consecutive weekly loss. Friday’s slack economic data had a hand in the downside as well. U.S. consumer sentiment fell in March, dropping well below expectations, according to the University of Michigan’s preliminary monthly reading, according to Reuters.
The PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Index Bullish Fund (NYSEArca: UUP), the U.S. Dollar Index tracking ETF, touched its highest levels since late 2008 Friday, finishing the week a gain of nearly 3%. Aided by dollar strength and oil’s woes, the Thomson Reuters/CRB Commidities Index slide to a six-year low Friday. With that, we move onto the biggest ETF stories of the week.
Broad Market and Sector ETFs
Active management failures continue and the numbers are frighteningly bad. [Epic Fail for Active Management]
More healthcare mergers and acquisitions activity lifts some pharmaceuticals ETFs.
Don’t Forget These Dividend ETFs. [Don’t Forget These Dividend ETFs]
These biotech ETFs have plenty of takeover targets.
Schwab puts a personal touch on the robo-advisor. [Schwab’s Personal Touch on Intelligent Portfolios]
Recovering dividends, increased buybacks could mean good things for these bank ETFs. [Bank on These Bank ETFs]