ETF Trends
05-13-2008, 02:30 PM
ETF Trends - Keeping a Grip on Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
http://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/13/story.jpgThe markets and exchange traded funds (ETFs) appear to be mostly chewing on the news about retail and housing before they make any rash moves.
The price of a single-family home dropped 7.7% in the first quarter, making for the biggest year-over-year decline since record-keeping began in 1982, reports Les Christie for CNN Money (http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/080513/051208_q12008_home_prices.html). The median sales prices also fell 4.8% compared to the last three months of 2007.
Real estate and homebuilder ETFs, however, were mixed in early trading. Among them:
SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xhb)), up 10.5% year-to-date
iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (ITB (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=itb)), up 7.3% year-to-date
DJ Wilshire REIT (RWR (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=rwr)), up 9.9% year-to-date
iShares Dow Jones US Real Estate (IYR (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=iyr)), up 7.5% year-to-datehttp://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/13/z.png (http://etftrends.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/13/z.png)
Retail numbers for April came out today, as well, and they were down for the second consecutive month, reports Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080513/economy.html). The usual bugaboos of high gas prices and skyrocketing food costs were the culprits.
The Commerce Department said sales were down 0.2%, and that auto sales were down 2.8%. It was the biggest setback for that category in 10 months. Excluding autos, however, retail sales actually rose 0.5% and it was better than expected.
Wal-Mart (WMT (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=wmt)) in particular announced higher earnings this morning - a sign that people are continuing to bargain hunt and stretch their dollars as far as they'll go.
Much like the housing ETFs, retail-related ones were still digesting it all in early trading:
SPDR S&P Retail (XRT (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xrt)), down 0.1% year-to-date
Retail HOLDRs (RTH (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=rth)), up 3.5% year-to-date
PowerShares Dynamic Retail (PMR (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=pmr)), up 3.1% year-to-datehttp://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/13/z_2.png (http://etftrends.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/13/z_2.png)
complete story here... (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/etftrends-feed/~3/289567691/home-prices-ret.html)
http://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/13/story.jpgThe markets and exchange traded funds (ETFs) appear to be mostly chewing on the news about retail and housing before they make any rash moves.
The price of a single-family home dropped 7.7% in the first quarter, making for the biggest year-over-year decline since record-keeping began in 1982, reports Les Christie for CNN Money (http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/080513/051208_q12008_home_prices.html). The median sales prices also fell 4.8% compared to the last three months of 2007.
Real estate and homebuilder ETFs, however, were mixed in early trading. Among them:
SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xhb)), up 10.5% year-to-date
iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (ITB (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=itb)), up 7.3% year-to-date
DJ Wilshire REIT (RWR (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=rwr)), up 9.9% year-to-date
iShares Dow Jones US Real Estate (IYR (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=iyr)), up 7.5% year-to-datehttp://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/13/z.png (http://etftrends.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/13/z.png)
Retail numbers for April came out today, as well, and they were down for the second consecutive month, reports Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080513/economy.html). The usual bugaboos of high gas prices and skyrocketing food costs were the culprits.
The Commerce Department said sales were down 0.2%, and that auto sales were down 2.8%. It was the biggest setback for that category in 10 months. Excluding autos, however, retail sales actually rose 0.5% and it was better than expected.
Wal-Mart (WMT (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=wmt)) in particular announced higher earnings this morning - a sign that people are continuing to bargain hunt and stretch their dollars as far as they'll go.
Much like the housing ETFs, retail-related ones were still digesting it all in early trading:
SPDR S&P Retail (XRT (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xrt)), down 0.1% year-to-date
Retail HOLDRs (RTH (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=rth)), up 3.5% year-to-date
PowerShares Dynamic Retail (PMR (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=pmr)), up 3.1% year-to-datehttp://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/13/z_2.png (http://etftrends.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/13/z_2.png)
complete story here... (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/etftrends-feed/~3/289567691/home-prices-ret.html)