April's Top ETFs: Energy, Natural Resources
The month of April showed that the best average returns per category or sector for exchange traded funds were in Energy/Natural Resources (6.67%), Global Equity (5.19%) and domestic Growth & Income (5.43%).
In all, there were quite a few sectors and categories that performed well, which in general reflected the recent run up on Wall Street and world markets. This really applied only to equity markets buoyed by earnings, further
Federal Reserve
intervention and other generally positive news for the month of April.
However the bond market, after posting solid returns for March, fared worse as capital moved out of this market and into equities. With investors feeling more confident about the U.S. economy, and hence the U.S. dollar, money also came off the table from Precious Metals ETFs.
Some of the most profitable funds were the
MACROshares Oil Up
(UCR)
, returning 25.39% for the month;
Rydex 2x S&P MidCap 400 ETF
(RMM) - Get Report
, up 16.74%; and two Chinese ETF's, the
SPDR S&P China ETF
(GXC) - Get Report
17.97% and the
PowerShares Golden Dragon Hltr USX China
(PGJ) - Get Report
, returning 17.97% and 15.54% respectively.
With this week's data for mid-May showing soft economic conditions in the U.S., there may be a reversion back away from the equity markets and into bonds and precious metals.
The reasoning behind this appears to be that further evidence of a slowdown implies further assistance from the
Federal Reserve
via lower rates (which will compress yields i.e. bid the price of bonds up), or other strategies to stabilize the bond market and banking sector in general. A U.S. slowdown places uncertainty into the minds of investors - hence, there is also a flight to precious metals, especially gold. I
In the end, it all seems a bit of a crapshoot until we have a more certain economic outlook.
ETF Category | No. of Funds | 1 Month Return |
Sector - Energy/Natural Res | 51 | 6.67 |
Growth & Income | 26 | 5.43 |
Global Equity | 21 | 5.19 |
Emerging Market Equity | 16 | 4.56 |
Equity Income | 158 | 4.51 |
Sector - Utilities | 12 | 4.50 |
Sector - Financial Services | 20 | 4.34 |
Growth - Domestic | 160 | 4.23 |
Non-US Equity | 114 | 3.77 |
Corporate - High Yield | 3 | 3.77 |
Sector - Health/Biotechnology | 41 | 3.01 |
Municipal - National | 11 | 1.82 |
Municipal Single State | 2 | 1.72 |
Emerging Market Income | 2 | 0.78 |
Corporate - Investment Grade | 4 | 0.67 |
Municipal - High Yield | 1 | 0.25 |
General Mortgage | 1 | 0.04 |
General Bd - Investment Grade | 9 | -0.17 |
Government Bond | 19 | -1.68 |
Global Income | 1 | -2.33 |
Sector - Precious Metals | 10 | -2.61 |
ETF Name | Category | TICKER | 1 Month Return |
HOLDRS B2B Internet | Growth - Domestic | BHH | 29.73 |
MACROshares Oil Up | Sector - Energy/Natural Res | UCR | 25.39 |
SPDR S&P China ETF | Non-US Equity | GXC | 17.97 |
Rydex 2x S&P MidCap 400 ETF | Equity Income | RMM | 16.74 |
PowerShares Gldn Drgn Hltr USX Chn | Global Equity | PGJ | 15.54 |
ProShares Ultra Utilities | Sector - Utilities | UPW | 13.84 |
HealthShares Cardiology | Sector - Health/Biotechnology | HRD | 12.51 |
iPath MSCI India Index ETN | Emerging Market Equity | INP | 12.24 |
PowerShares FTSE RAFI Intl Real Est | Growth & Income | PRY | 12.04 |
ProShares Ultra Financials | Sector - Financial Services | UYG | 10.99 |
DB Gold Double Short ETN | Sector - Precious Metals | DZZ | 8.82 |
PowerShares Insured CA Mun Bond | Municipal - National | PWZ | 5.50 |
PowerShares High Yield Corp Bond | Corporate - High Yield | PHB | 4.18 |
PowerShares Preferred Port | General Bd - Investment Grade | PGX | 2.28 |
iShares S&P CA Municipal Bond | Municipal Single State | CMF | 2.19 |
iShares iBoxx $ Inves Grade Corp Bd | Corporate - Investment Grade | LQD | 1.25 |
iShares JPMorgan USD Emg Mkts | Emerging Market Income | EMB | 1.16 |
PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly | Municipal - High Yield | PVI | 0.25 |
iShares Lehman Short Treasury Bond | Government Bond | SHV | 0.09 |
iShares Lehman MBS Fixed-Rate Bond | General Mortgage | MBB | 0.04 |
SPDR Lehman Intl Treasury Bond ETF | Global Income | BWX | -2.33 |
Sam Patel, CFA, is the manager of mutual fund research for the TheStreet.com Ratings.
In keeping with TSC's Investment Policy, employees of TheStreet.com Ratings with access to pre-publication ratings data must pre-clear any potential trade through the legal department, and are prohibited from trading any security that is the subject of an unpublished rating revision until the second business day after the rating is published.
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