Metal Funds Rank Among Top 10 ETFs

Exchange-traded securities that invested in platinum, copper and other precious metals were among the top performers in February.

Each month, TheStreet.com Ratings looks at exchange-traded funds that generated the biggest returns. Last month, the SPDR S&P 500 fund (SPY) fell 11%, while the Nasdaq 100-tracking PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQQ) declined 5.3%. Clearly, few stock strategies worked.

Funds that bet against the market climbed as much as 62% with the Direxion Small Cap Bear 3X Shares (TZA) fund leading the group. Excluding so-called inverse funds, the 10 best-performing ETFs from Jan. 30 to Feb. 27 are listed below.

The B2B Internet HOLDRs Trust (BHH) led the bullish funds, returning 17% for the month. This fund has two holdings left: Ariba (ARBA) and Internet Capital Group (ICGE), accounting for 91% and 9% of assets, respectively. Shares of Ariba, which sells risk-management software to businesses, climbed 15% last month after reporting its third-straight quarterly earnings gain.

Six of the 10 securities listed are "exchange-traded notes," or ETNs. They're similar to ETFs, except they track their underlying indexes without owning the member stocks or commodities.

The best-performing ETN, ELEMENTS Linked to the MLCX Precious Metals Index (PMY) rose 8.7% on gains in precious metals prices. These notes were issued by Credit Suisse (CS), which assumes the risk of the portfolio's value dropping below the index level.

The E-TRACS UBS Long Platinum ETN (PTM) and the iPath Dow Jones-AIG Platinum Total Return Sub-Index ETN (PGM), which follow platinum indexes, returned more than 8%. Platinum rose 8.7% in February to $1,073.50 an ounce.

10 Best-Performing Exchange-Traded Funds in February Fund (Ticker) Rating Total Return 1 Month Total Return 1 Year Objective B2B Internet HOLDRs Trust (BHH) D- 16.67% -24.32% Internet & Telecom ELEMENTS Linked to the MLCX Precious Metals Index (PMY) U 8.70% N.A. Commodity E-TRACS UBS Long Platinum ETN (PTM) U 8.64% N.A. Commodity iPath Dow Jones-AIG Platinum Total Return Sub-Index ETN (PGM) U 8.37% N.A. Commodity Market Vectors - Russia ETF (RSX) E- 6.83% -76.33% Russia iPath Dow Jones AIG Copper Total Return Sub Index ETN (JJC) E- 6.51% -60.39% Commodity iPath Dow Jones-AIG Sugar Total Return Sub-Index ETN (SGG) U 6.50% N.A. Commodity iPATH S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN (VXZ) U 5.24% N.A. Equity Volatility Internet Infrastructure HOLDRs Trust (IIH) C- 4.32% -49.76% Internet & Telecom PowerShares Global Agriculture Portfolio (PAGG) U 4.05% N.A. Agriculture Source: TheStreet.com Ratings and Bloomberg

For an explanation of our ratings, please read this methodology statement.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints