Despite the Bear, There Are ETFs You Can Look To

By Tom Lydon | September 11, 2008 | 6:36 PM | 1 Comment

You might have noticed the markets have been a little bit volatile lately - there have been swings in the hundreds of points either way on any given day. Perhaps you think it's just been bad all over.

While it has been bad, if you take a quick look around, though, you'll find that there are still exchange traded funds (ETFs) that are not only beating the general markets, but are above their short- and even their long-term trend lines. It only further proves that even when there are areas that are trending down, there are always other areas moving in the opposite direction. You just have to look for them.

These funds are also across an array of sectors and asset classes: small-caps, biotechnology, retail, and more.

While we use the long-term trend line in our business to decide when to get in or out of a fund, the 50-day moving average can be employed for those who choose to do so. Just apply the same principles that you would with the long-term line: when it drops below the line or 8% off its high, sell.

Have a look:

• iShares Russell 2000 Value Index (NYSE: IWN): down 1.3% year-to-date; 2.4% above its 50 DMA; 1.1% above its 200 DMA

• iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (NYSE: DVY): down 14.4% year-to-date; 4.4% above its 50 DMA

• Vanguard Consumer Staples (NYSE: VDC): up% year-to-date; 3.5% above its 50 DMA; 4.3% above its 200 DMA

• Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLP): up 1.3% year-to-date; 3.4% above its 50 DMA; 4.5% above its 200 DMA

• Retail HOLDRs (NYSE: RTH): up 7.3% year-to-date; 6.1% above its 50 DMA; 6.4% above its 200 DMA

• SPDR S&P Retail (NYSE: XRT): up 1% year-to-date; 7.3% above its 50 DMA; 3.4% above its 200 DMA

• iShares Biotechnology (NYSE: IBB): up 3.8% year-to-date; 3.7% above its 200 DMA

• iShares Dow Jones Transportation (NYSE: IYT): up 12.5% year-to-date; 1.5% above its 50 DMA; 3% above its 200 DMA

• SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB): up 10.5% year-to-date; 13.4% above 50 DMA; 5% above 200 DMA

 

Check out Tom's new book iMoney here.

Thanks Tom. Nice to see that Thanks Tom. Nice to see that there are still some things worth going after out there. Submitted by Karen (not verified) on Fri, 2008/09/12 - 11:06am » reply |