Greetings!
Below please find the ETF Spotlight newsletter 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. Feel free to share it with anyone who may be interested.
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In this week's issue
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 Embedded Exposure to Greek Debt
- Chart of the week: Financial sector exposure of European ETFs
- Fund Focus: iShares MSCI Europe Financials (EUFN)
- Revisions, asset flows & short interest
- 2012 DPS estimates, annual change, and yields for major ETFs
- Market monitor - movers & categories
To download the full newsletter click here.
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| Chart of the week |
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Embedded Exposure to Greek Debt
Some of the biggest risk from a Greek default (which we believe is likely) lies with European banks, which hold tons of Greek debt. A default or restructuring could wipe out their capital causing cascading failures across the continent and necessitating bailouts.
In that event, it appears that the BLDRs Europe 100 ADR (ADRU) fund is best insulated among broad European ETFs, with just 17% of assets in the Financial sector compared with as much as 43% for the First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend fund (FDD). Levels around 20% are typical for the most widely held funds such as the Vanguard Europe (VGK) and the iShares S&P Europe 350 (IEV) funds.
Download the full newsletter here.
Chart: Financial sector exposure of European ETFs (ex East-European focused ETFs)
Source: AltaVista Research
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| Fund Focus |
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iShares MSCI Europe Financials (EUFN) 
Although bank shares in EUFN at first appear a bargain trading at less than book value, those figures are suspect and could be wiped out in the case of a Greek default (which we believe is likely), and profit estimates have been deteriorating at an alarming rate. Investors may consider selling EUFN short to "carve out" exposure to the financial sectors embedded in broader European ETFs they already own.
To download the full newsletter, click here.
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| New coverage | |
We recently added coverage of the following ETFs, bringing the total to 677 funds. Check ETF Research Center for details on any of them.
| LGEM | EGShares Basic Materials GEMS | | GGEM | EGShares Consumer Goods GEMS | | VGEM | EGShares Consumer Services | | HGEM | EGShares Health Care GEMS | | IGEM | EGShares Industrials GEMS | | QGEM | EGShares Technology GEMS | | TGEM | EGShares Telecom GEMS | | UGEM | EGShares Utilities GEMS |
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