The natural gas-related United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca: UNG), the most widely followed natural gas exchange traded product, also burned up this year, returning 29.3% year-to-date.
Natural gas prices and related ETFs climbed as traders jumped on the the latest weather projections of a potentially colder-than-expected winter. Prices, though, pulled back in recent weeks on warmer temperatures toward the end of the year, but UNG is still trading at near its highest level in over a year.
Related: 10 Biggest ETF Issuers of 2018 By AUM
After plunging toward the end of 2017, the iShares MSCI Qatar Capped ETF (NasdaqGM: QAT), the lone Qatar equity-related ETF, returned 23.2% year-to-date. The Middle East market suffered through boycotts imposed by its Arab neighbors. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar in June, which weighed on Doha’s imports and triggered the withdrawal of billions of dollars of deposits from Qatari banks. QAT’s gains in 2018 more-or-less recouped its losses suffered since enduring an embargo that began last year.
Lastly, the AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF (NASDAQ: DWSH) strengthened by 22.9% year-to-date. DWSH scours the markets for underperformers and short sells securities that demonstrate the highest relative weakness. Securities selected will primarily be large-capitalization U.S. equities, consisting of a short equity portfolio with about 75-100 holdings that begin with a modified equal weighting. When capital markets experience a downturn, DWSH’s strategy can allocate its short exposure more broadly to the domestic equity market – by shorting individual ETFs or futures contracts – seeking to enhance its total return and effectively hedging long equity exposure.
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