ETFs Gaining Double Digits Last Week

I like to publish the prior week’s hottest ETFs to share some new trends and niche ETFs out there. As it turns out, since we don’t see the same sector dominating the runup each week (aside from 3X Financials most weeks of late), each week, I introduce at least one obscure ETF that may provide some strong returns and lower correlation with the ever popular S&P 500, Nasdaq and Financial ETFs. For instance, consider the newly launched Colombia ETF which portends to grow rapidly if history is any indicator from its sole US ADS previously, this closed end fund looking to focus on warming ties to CUBA, and the Carbon Trading ETF and Solar Energy ETF in these similar best-prior week ETF articles. For the prior week:

B2B Internet Holders ETF (BHH) - Up 17% - This internet ETF is actually up over 40% vs a small loss for the S&P 500 YTD. In prior downturns, we saw tech get hammered, but surprisingly, this time around, tech had no direct role in the market euphoria and these companies seemed to have learned a thing or two about living without excessive costs and holding cash. Tech may very well continue to outperform if we’re looking at a slow recovery in financials and housing.

Barclays iPath Nickel ETN (JJN) - Up 16% - Note, this is an ETN which has slightly different properties than an ETF. But for a pure play on nickel which is a barometer for both industrial activity and currency generation, this ETN seeks to replicate the Dow Jones-AIG Nickel Total Return Sub-Index index which is composed of the Primary Nickel futures contract traded on the London Metal Exchange.

Powershares Active US Real Estate ETF (PSR) - Up 16% - This is an “actively managed ETF” which may sound like a bit of a misnomer. The fund will invest at least 80% of assets in securities of companies that are principally engaged in the U.S. real estate industry and included within the FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index. It is free to utilize the balance of the assets for additional exposure to other real estate or alter the weighting of its holdings. With a higher expense ratio of .8% than its passively managed brother VNQ at .1%, it will be interesting to see if the ability to add some actively managed positions to the ETF outweigh the .7% difference in expense ratios.

Market Vectors Indonesia ETF (IDX) - Up 15%  - I hadn’t even heard of this newly launched ETF: Indonesia has been on fire, as have many of the emerging market ETFs, which also fell much harder than the US. In the past month alone, this ETF is up over 40% compared to about 12% for the S&P 500. As highlighted earlier, there are some other lesser-known emerging market ETFs, like the newly launched Colombia investment focused ETF and one then there’s the CUBA investment closed end fund that returned 40% in a single day recently (but note, it doesn’t have any direct holdings in Cuba!)

Claymore/Delta Global Shipping (SEA) - Up 14%  - This ETF seeks to replicate the performance of the Delta Global Shipping index, which is really a play on the return to global trade and recovery. In February, the ETF fell much more rapidly than the S&P 500, but then rocketed back more quickly from March onward, up over 25% in the past month vs. 12% for the S&P 500.

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