Finance ETFs Lead Peers

  • March 15, 2001
  • Loren Fleckenstein

The finance-focused exchange-traded
funds led their peers with a bounce Thursday while the Net-focused tradable funds
put in another losing session.

The Regional Banking HOLDR
(
RKH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rose 3.3%, the day’s biggest among the U.S.-focused exchange-traded
funds. The Financial SPDR
(
XLF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) added 3.1%, the Dow Jones
Financial iShares
(
IYF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 2.5%, the Dow Jones Financial Services iShares
(
IYG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
2.4%.

The Telecom HOLDR
(
TTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained
3.2%, the Consumer Services SPDR
(
XLV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 3.0%, the Wireless HOLDR
(
WMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
the Dow Jones Utilities iShares
(
IDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 3.0%.

On the downside, the Internet
Infrastructure HOLDR
(
IIH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lost 7.8%, the Dow Jones Internet iShares
(
IYV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
6.3%, the B2B Internet HOLDR
(
BHH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 5.1%, the Software HOLDR
(
SWH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 3.9%,
the Semiconductor HOLDR
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 2.7%.

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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