ERC banner
ETF Spotlight Newsletter
A sampling of research & data on ETFs from AltaVista Research
In This Issue
In This Issue
Chart of the week
Fund focus
New coverage
Special Offer
One month
Free Trial

Sign up here
Quick Links
Coverage at a glance
No. of ETFs
606

Total Mkt Cap ($bns)

$664.1
Avg. daily value traded ($bns)

$49.3
Join Our List
Join Our Mailing List
October 18, 2010
Greetings!

Below please find the ETF Spotlight newsletter for the week of October 18, containing highlights of the research and data on www.etfresearchcenter.com as well as a recap of the past week's action in the ETF market. 

The focus of this week's edition is sales growth. We've also got a long list of recent NEW COVERAGE, bringing our universe to over 600 equity ETFs. Feel free to share it with others who may be interested. 

In this week's issue

technicianSales growth
  • Chart of the week: Q3 Sales growth by sector
  • Fund Focus: Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK)
  • Revisions, asset flows & short interest
  • 2011 Sales per share estimates, growth rates, and price-to-sales ratios for major ETFs
  • Market monitor - movers & categories
To download the full newsletter click here.

Chart of the week
Q3 Sales growth by sector

Anemic sales growth is emerging as a theme to the Q3 reporting season. Overall, S&P500 (SPY) sales are likely to increase 8.8% versus Q3 2009, with large contributions to the increase coming from the Energy (XLE) and Materials (XLB) sectors. Excluding these two, where sales are driven more by commodity prices than by end demand, S&P sales are likely to increase 6.3% year-on-year, and just 1.3% over Q2 of this year.

Further, the strength in many earnings reports is masking weakness on the top line. For example, Q3 earnings for the Financial sector
(XLF) are forecast to increase 78% year-on-year, the result of easy comparisons, while revenues are anticipated to actually decline by 0.3%.

It's not doom-and-gloom everywhere. The Tech sector (XLK) is seeing genuine strength in revenues, which are forecast to increase by some $38 billion or 14.4% versus last year, driving a $40 billion
(34.6%) increase in profits. XLK is the subject of this week's Fund Focus.

Download the full newsletter here.  

Chart: Q3 Sales growth by sector
Change in sale vs. 3Q09 in $mns and percent
3Q10 Sales

Fund Focus
Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK)semis

After a relatively mild and short-lived earnings decline, the sector appears to be firing on all cylinders, with healthy gains in both sales and earnings forecast for this year and next. However, that may prove optimistic if Tech firms miss the aggressive profit margins implied by those same forecasts. In any case, XLK's lofty P/BV multiples more than reflect the sector's profitability (ROE) resulting in an ALTAR Score slightly below average, although P/E multiples appear more reasonable.

To download the full newsletter, click here.

NEW COVERAGE
We initiated coverage of 75 new ETFs:

For details on any of the funds below, go to our FUND ANALYSIS TOOL on the ETF Research Center and enter the ticker symbol in the toolbox on the right.

Schwab Emerging Markets Equity (SCHE)
Alerian MPL ETF (AMLP)
Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL)
iShares MSCI Indonesia Investable (EIDO)
iShares MSCI Poland Investable (EPOL)
Schwab Intl Small-Cap Equity (SCHC)
iShares MSCI New Zealand (ENZL)
Global X China Materials ETF (CHIM)
Mars Hill Global Relative Value (GRV)
Global X Lithium ETF (LIT)
First Trust BICK Index Fund (BICK)
iShares MSCI Europe Financial Sector (EUFN)
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)
Wisdomtree International Hedged Equity (HEDJ)
First Trust ISE Global Copper (CU)
Global X Brazil Mid Cap ETF (BRAZ)
Emg. Global Shares INDXX India Small Cap (SCIN)
IQ Canada Small Cap ETF (CNDA)
Global X Brazil Consumer ETF (BRAQ)
Emg. Shares DJ Emg. Mkt.s Consumer Titans (ECON)
Market Vectors India Small Caps (SCIF)
Market Vectors Latin America (LATM)
IQ Australia Small Cap ETF (KROO)
Globalshares FTSE Developed (GSD)
Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG)
Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth (IVOG)
Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth (VIOG)
Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 (VIOO)
Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Value (VIOV)
Jefferies TR/J CRB Wildcatters E&P (WCAT)
First Trust ISE Global Platinum (PLTM)
iShares MSCI Emg. Mkts. Materials Sector (EMMT)
Globalshares FTSE All-World (GSW)
Globalshares FTSE All-Cap Asia Pacific ex-Japan (GSZ)
iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US Consumer Staples (AXSL)
Market Vectors Egypt Index (EGPT)
iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US Materials (AXMT)
SPDR S&P Russia ETF (RBL)
Globalshares FTSE All-World ex-US (GSO)
iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US Cons. Disrectionary (AXDI)
Wilshire US REIT ETF (WREI)
iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US Telecom Services (AXTE)
iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US Industrials (AXID)
iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US Energy (AXEN)
iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US Health Care (AXHE)
iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US Utilities (AXUT)
Vanguard Russell 2000 Growth (VTWG)
iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US Info Tech (AXIT)
Vanguard Russell 2000 (VTWO)
Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth (VONG)
Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 ETF (IVOO)
Vanguard Russell 2000 Value (VTWV)
Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value (IVOV)
Vanguard S&P 500 Value ETF (VOOV)
Vanguard Russell 3000 (VTHR)
Vanguard Russell 1000 (VONE)
One Funds (ONEF)
Wilshire 4500 Completion ETF (WXSP)
Vanguard Russell 1000 Value (VONV)
SPDR S&P Global Nat. Resources (GNR)
Global X China Energy ETF (CHIE)
Emg. Global Shares INDXX India Infrastructure (INXX)
Global X Brazil Financials (BRAF)
IQ South Korea Small Cap ETF (SKOR)
Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX)
iShares MSCI Ireland Capped (EIRL)
IQ Taiwan Small Cap ETF (TWON)
WCM/BNY Mellon Focused Growth (AADR)
iShares MSCI Emg. Mkts. Financials Sector (EMFN)
Pax MSCI N. American Sustainability (NASI)
Wilshire 5000 Total Market (WFVK)
iShares MSCI USA Index Fund (EUSA)
iShares MSCI ex-US Financials (AXFN)
iShares MSCI Far East Financial Sector (FEFN)
JETS Contrarian Opportunity (JCO)

As always your questions & feedback are most welcome.
 
Sincerely,
 
Michael Krause
AltaVista Research