Dion's Wednesday ETF Winners and Losers
NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Welcome to Don Dion's Daily ETF Winners and Losers. Be sure to stop by each day to get a feel of who's winning and who's losing when it comes to ETFs.
Winners
Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF
(REMX) - Get Report
5.6%
The rare-earth metal ETF is following up Tuesday's strong gains with another day of upward action.
News that China is planning to drastically slash export quotas at the start of 2011 is helping power a number of the fund's top holdings. Even
Molycorp
(MCP)
, which was on a rollercoaster Tuesdayd, is up over 6% in early afternoon trading.
Rare earth metals will be an exciting region of the market to watch. However, given the industry's volatility, conservative investors may want to stick to the sidelines here.
Market Vectors Poland ETF
(PLND)
2.2%
A diverse collection of emerging market-related ETFs are heading higher today, benefiting from broad market optimism. PLND is one of the biggest movers. Outside of Latin America, funds including
iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund
(EIS) - Get Report
,
PowerShares India Portfolio
(PIN) - Get Report
, and
Market Vectors Brazil Small Cap Index ETF
(BRF) - Get Report
are also heading noticeably higher.
Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF
(MOO) - Get Report
2.0%
For months, agriculture has been an exciting region of the market to watch as futures products including
iPath Dow Jones UBS Sugar Total Return Subindex ETN
(SGG) - Get Report
and
iPath Dow Jones UBS Cotton Total Return Subindex ETN
(BAL) - Get Report
rally to brand new all time highs. While impressive, single crop, and futures-backed funds in general may not be suitable for all investors. Ag bulls looking for equity exposure to this region of the market will find the MOO
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil Equipment & Services Index Fund
(IEZ) - Get Report
1.8%
Oil prices continue to head higher, providing energy producers with some room to power higher. IEZ,
Oil Services HOLDRs
(OIH) - Get Report
and the
SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services
(XES) - Get Report
are the leading performers from this region of the market today.
Losers
ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund
(TBT) - Get Report
-3.5%
Although the markets are showing strength, investors are still sticking to the protection which comes with holding long term U.S. treasury bonds. In response, the inverse, leveraged TBT is falling to notable losses.
Looking towards the New Year, investors will want to keep a close watch on defensive plays such as gold and treasuries. In the event that the markets take a turn for the worse, these asset classes will help buffer losses.
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN
(VXX) - Get Report
-1.5%
The market's upward action on Wednesday is pressuring the VIX, leading VXX to suffer its first loss in four trading sessions.
Fellow VIX-backed fund, the
iPath S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN
(VXZ) - Get Report
has spent much of the day in unchanged territory.
All prices as of 2:14 PM EST
Written by Don Dion in Williamstown, Mass.
RELATED ARTICLES:
>>Rare Earth Market Trends - 2010
>>Sumitomo May Buy Stake in Molycorp
At the time of publication, Dion Money Management did not own any equities mentioned.
This commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet guest contributor program. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of TheStreet or its management.