Happy Hump Day! Market participants have been treated to a choppy ride as we continue to digest vaccine ‘hope’ headlines against the reality of the current situation. This has established a rotation pattern with starts and stops, leading to a key inflection point in market behavior and one that has Financial Advisors watching the action closely. The Moderna (MRNA) headlines from Monday continue to linger and Pfizer (PFE) was able to produce another round of statistically encouraging and significant data around its vaccine. How has this impacted FA research behavior this week?
- Trivia Question- Tesla (TSLA) will enter the S&P on December 21. Which GICS Sector will it be included in and who is the current dominant player in that sector?
If we were looking for one overarching theme in this choppy market, it would fall under research around real estate. A quick look at the 2020 underperformers shows REITs as a laggard, down 9% year to date (Banks and Energy were two other notable laggards). The impact from Covid has led to a monumental change in philosophy around both commercial and residential properties. Uncertainty has led to an aversion to REITs. The recent vaccine headlines and price action suggests FAs are finding more clarity in the situation. Coming in at #3 on our Top ETF for All FA surges was the iShares U.S. Core U.S. REIT ETF (USRT) which tracks the investment results of an index of U.S. real estate (Equities include: PLD, EQIX, DLR, PSA and WELL) and recently broke through key resistance.
| TOP ETFS – BY ALL FAs (Surge Traffic) This Week | Ticker | TOP ETFS BY FAs w/ AUM>$1B (Surge Traffic) This Week | Ticker | TOP INDUSTRIES BY ALL FAs (Surge Traffic) This Week | TOP ETF CATEGORIES BY ALL FAs (Surge Traffic) This Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invesco S&P SmallCap 600? Pure Growth ETF | RZG | ARK Genomic Revolution ETF | ARKG | Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products | Global Real Estate |
| iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF | IEF | iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF | SLVP | Insurance – Reinsurance | Emerging Markets Bonds |
| iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF | USRT | First Trust Capital Strength ETF | FTCS | Waste Management | Leveraged Real Estate |
| Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF | VCR | First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund | FYC | Medical Distribution | Water Equities |
| Invesco S&P 500? Pure Growth ETF | RPG | ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures | UVXY | Metal Fabrication | Oil & Gas |
| iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF | SLVP | ARK Innovation ETF | ARKK | Industrial Metals & Minerals | Consumer Staples Equities |
| VanEck Vectors Green Bond ETF | GRNB | Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 2X Shares | NUGT | Business services, misc | Preferred Stock/Convertible Bonds |
| First Trust Dorsey Wright International Focus 5 ETF | IFV | First Trust NASDAQ CEA Cybersecurity ETF | CIBR | Trusts, misc | Volatility Hedged Equity |
| Invesco S&P 500? Low Volatility ETF | SPLV | ETFMG Prime Junior Silver ETF | SILJ | Laboratory apparatus and furniture | Consumer Discretionary Equities |
| Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF | BLCN | Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund | UUP | Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery | Volatility |
| Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Index Fund ETF | VNQI | First Trust Amex Biotechnology Index | FBT | REIT – Retail | Real Estate |
| United States Natural Gas Fund | UNG | First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF | FV | Tools & Accessories | Foreign Small & Mid Cap Equities |
| ETFMG Prime Mobile Payments ETF | IPAY | Global X Video Games & Esports ETF | HERO | Other Industrial Metals & Mining | Inverse Equities |
| VanEck Vectors ChinaAMC China Bond ETF | CBON | Daily Dow Jones Internet Bull 3X Shares | WEBL | Electrical Equipment & Parts | Agricultural Commodities |
| First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund | FYC | Auto Manufacturers | Large Cap Value Equities | ||
| First Trust Capital Strength ETF | FTCS | Plastics products, misc | Small Cap Growth Equities | ||
| Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF | PPA | Discount Stores | Commodities | ||
| First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund | FEMS | Scientific & Technical Instruments | Total Bond Market | ||
| Global X SuperDividend U.S. ETF | DIV | Prepackaged software | Foreign Large Cap Equities | ||
| Invesco S&P MidCap Low Volatility ETF | XMLV | National commercial banks | Preferred Stock/Convertible Bonds | ||
Other themes that garnered interest include:
- Blockchain- Bitcoin is seeing the same momentum we saw back in December of 2017. FAs have shown more of an inclination to take a look at the backing technology via the Reality Shares NexGen Economy ETF (BLCN). This tracks the blockchain piece of digital currency.
- Global REITs- The search for yield in real estate has not been limited to the U.S. The Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF (VNQI) was #11 in the All FA surge list. Global Real Estate was #1 in the Top ETF Categories by All FAs.
- Medical Distribution- We saw plenty of the headlines around PFE and MRNA. An area were FAs are looking at is Medical Distribution as this Industry came in at #4 in FA surge research.
- Aerospace & Defense- Building on our theme from Monday, we see the Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA). Similar holding to the ITA and DFEN, however, the largest holding here is Boeing (BA). This company finally received FAA approval for its 737 MAX today.
Trivia Answer- TSLA will be added into the Consumer Discretionary sector. Also watch the XLY where AMZN has a 21% weighting.