A Day For Energy, Defensives

The Old Economy/New Economy diverge
played out in the exchange-traded funds, lifting chemicals, defensives and
energies, undercutting the techs. 

The Energy SPDR
(
XLE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rose 3.0%,
the Dow Jones Energy iShares
(
IYE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
2.9%. 

Among the defensives, the
Pharmaceutical HOLDR
(
PPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
2.5%, the Dow Jones Healthcare iShares
(
IYH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

2.3%, the Consumer Staples SPDR
(
XLP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
2.2%, the Dow Jones Utilities iShares
(
IDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
1.7%.

On the downside, the Internet
Infrastructure HOLDR
(
IIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
slipped 10.2%, the Broadband HOLDR
(
BDH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

8.1%, the Dow Jones Internet iShares
(
IYV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
7.4%, the B2B Internet HOLDR
(
BHH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

7.0%, the Internet HOLDR
(
HHH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
5.7%, the Nasdaq 100 Tracking Stock
(
QQQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

5.4, the Dow Jones Technology iShares
(
IYW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
4.5%, the Semiconductor HOLDR
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

3.7%.

The top field of all charts in this
commentary uses a logarithmic price scale and displays a 50-day price average in
red. In the second field, a
blue relative strength line represents the displayed security’s price
performance relative to the S&P 500. The third field displays vertical daily
volume bars in black with a 50-day moving average in blue for volume.

Exchange-traded
funds
 combine traits
of stocks and mutual funds. Like mutual funds, an ETF represents diversified
ownership in a number of different stocks, greatly reducing company-specific
risk. Like stocks, ETFs trade on exchanges, nearly all of them in fact trade on
the American Stock Exchange at present. They quote throughout the day, enabling
traders to take advantage of intraday price moves.

If you’re new exchange-traded funds,
be sure to visit TradingMarkets’ Knowledge Center,
dedicated to explaining the basics of trading and active investing in ETFs and
mutual funds. Just click on the Funds tab
near the top of this page, then click on the Knowledge
Center
tab. 

You also will find lessons on trading
exchange-traded funds in the Stocks Education area of TradingMarkets.com. In
particular, check out my three-part series on trading ETFs, starting with href=”/.site/stocks/education/strategies/05262000-6129.cfm”>Moving
Average Crossovers. I also recommend newcomers read my tutorial, href=”/.site/stocks/education/strategies/06272000-6815.cfm”>Trading
HOLDRs: Unique Opportunity And Risk.

 

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