Tech ETFs Lead Peers
The tech-focused tradable funds Wednesday led
their peers higher, although many of the moves came on weak to mediocre volume.
The B2B Internet HOLDR
(
BHH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
jumped 12.5%, the day’s biggest gain among the exchange-traded
funds. Among its components, QRS Corp
(
QRSI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 17.8%, Agile
Software
(
AGIL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 19.8%, Commerce One
(
CMRC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 13.0%, and Ariba
(
ARBA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rose 8.5%.
Also on the rise were the iShares
(
IYV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 10.0%, the
Internet HOLDR
(
HHH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 5.3%, the Broadband HOLDR
(
BDH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 4.4%, the
Semiconductor HOLDR
(
SMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 4.3%, the Biotech HOLDR
(
BBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 4.2%, and the Dow
Jones Technology iShares
(
IYW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 3.7%.
Among the major index-tracking ETFs,
the Nasdaq 100 Tracking Stock
(
QQQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) picked up 3.9%, the Russell 2000 iShares
(
IWM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 3.2%, the Spyders
(
SPY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 1.8%, and the Dow Jones Diamonds
(
DIA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
added 1.1%.
Pressure finally came off the
rate-sensitive stocks and their respective tradable funds. The Dow Jones
Financial iShares
(
IYF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 2.0%, the Regional Banking HOLDR
(
RKH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 1.9%, the
Financial SPDR
(
XLF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 1.8%, and the Dow Jones Financial Services iShares
(
IYG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
were up 1.6%.
Exchange-traded funds combine traits
of stocks and mutual funds. Like mutual funds, an ETF represents diversified
ownership in a number of different stocks, reducing company-specific
risk. Like stocks, ETFs trade on exchanges, nearly all of them, in fact, trade on
the American Stock Exchange. They quote throughout the day, enabling
traders to take advantage of intraday price moves.
If you’re new to 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
Average Crossovers. I also recommend newcomers read my tutorial,
HOLDRs: Unique Opportunity And Risk.
All stocks and exchange-traded funds
are risky. In any new trade, reduce your risk by limiting your position size and
setting a protective price stop where you will sell your new buy or cover your
short in case the market turns against you. For an introduction to combining
price stops with position sizing, see my lesson,
Risky Business. For further treatment of these and related topics,
you’ll find extensive lessons in the Money
Management area of TradingMarkets’ Stocks Education section.