Tag Archives: etf

ETF & Stocks In Focus On Sizzling February Auto Sales

After a lackluster start to the year, the auto sector rebounded in February on regained vigor in the economy and fresh signs of increasing consumer confidence. This is especially true as sales climbed 6.9% year over year to an annualized 17.51 million units in February, as per Autodata Corp. This represents the best month for American auto sales since February 2000. Five of the six major American and Japanese automakers reported solid sales growth last month. Ford Motor (NYSE: F ) led the way with 20.2% growth, followed by sales increases of 12.8% for Honda (NYSE: HMC ), 11.8% for Fiat Chrysler (NYSE: FCAU ), 10.5% for Nissan ( OTCPK:NSANY ), and 4.1% for Toyota (NYSE: TM ). On the other hand, General Motors (NYSE: GM ) sales fell 1.5% year over year last month. Robust growth was driven by deeper Presidents’ Day discounts, cheap fuel, easy availability of credit at lower interest rates, and rising income. In addition, higher demand for sports utility vehicles, a plethora of new models, fuel-efficient and technologically packed vehicles, and the need to replace aging vehicles added to the strength. This trend is likely to continue in the coming months. With this, 2016 could be another record year for vehicle sales (read: Mixed Auto Earnings Put This Car ETF in Focus ). The solid data propelled the auto stocks higher and spread bullishness into the entire industry across the globe. Given the solid jump in auto sales, investors may want to take a closer look at the ETFs and stocks from this corner that they could ride on. ETFs in Focus First Trust NASDAQ Global Auto ETF (NASDAQ: CARZ ) This fund offers a pure play global exposure to 37 auto stocks by tracking the NASDAQ OMX Global Auto Index. It is a large-cap centric fund and is highly concentrated on the top four prime automakers – Ford, Toyota, General Motors and Honda – that combined to make up for 32.2% share. In terms of country exposure, Japan takes the top spot at 35.8% while the U.S. and Germany round off the next two spots with 23.8% and 18% share, respectively. CARZ has a lower level of $39.6 million in AUM and trades in a small average daily trading volume of around 11,000 shares. The product charges 70 bps in fees per year and has a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 or ‘Hold’ rating with a High risk outlook. Stocks in Focus While all the auto stocks are in focus for the coming days, we have highlighted stocks that have the potential to move higher than its peers amid recovering sentiments. To accomplish this, we have used Zacks stock screener to spot two stocks that have a Zacks Style Score of ‘A’ for Growth, Value and Momentum each. These when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) offer the best upside potential with strong momentum, cheap price and robust growth (read: 3 Momentum Stocks & ETFs to Play ). Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: CTB ) Based in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire is engaged in the manufacture and marketing of replacement tires worldwide. It is the fourth largest tire manufacturer in North America and the eleventh largest in the world. The company saw solid earnings estimate revision of 37 cents for the current year over the past 30 days and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4%. Further, the company delivered positive earnings surprises in the three of the past four quarters, with an average beat of 26.23%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1. Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA ) Based in Southfield, Michigan, Lear Corporation is a global leader in designing, developing, engineering, manufacturing, assembling, and supplying automotive seating, electrical distribution systems, and related components primarily to automotive original equipment manufacturers worldwide (see: all the Consumer Discretionary ETFs here ). The stock saw positive earnings estimate revisions from $11.89 to $12.18 per share for 2016 over the past 30 days, representing a year-over-year increase of 12.21%. It delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 9.05% in the last four quarters. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2. Bottom Line A slowly recovering economy and reviving consumer spending will continue to drive auto sales higher, making the above-mentioned ETF and stocks compelling choices for investors to play in the months ahead. Original Post

Infosys' Healthcare Analytics to Use Microsoft's Technology

India based IT company Infosys Ltd.INFY recently announced a partnership with technology behemoth Microsoft Corp. MSFT to aid the digital transformation of health institutions through the deployment of smart analytics solutions. Infosys’ collaboration with Microsoft reflects its underlying strategy

Where’s The Gold-Hedged S&P 500?

Back in 2010, there was a fair amount of hoopla generated by the launch of the E-TRACS S&P 500 Gold Hedged Index ETN (NYSEARCA: SPGH ) , a first-of-its kind product designed to smooth out bumps in a then-nascent equity market recovery. By tying together two historically divergent assets-gold and stocks-note holders should have been able to simulate S&P 500 returns hedged against the fluctuations of the U.S. dollar versus gold. Why “should have”? Well, that’s an interesting story. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, you need to know that SPGH notes are unsecured debt obligations of BBB-plus-rated UBS AG (NYSE: UBS ) (Jersey). Um, that’s the Isle of Jersey, not the Garden State. You also should know that the SPGH offering was one of the Swiss bank’s most lightly subscribed ETN issues. In October, when a significant liquidity event occurred (more on that in a minute), more than 99 percent of SPGH notes issued remained in the hands of UBS Securities LLC, the bank’s selling agent. One of the reasons for the light interest was the note’s call feature. Starting in 2011, UBS AG had the right to redeem the notes at market value whenever it pleased. Note buyers, in effect, were forced to give away a put option of indeterminate length with an unknown strike price. No wonder interest was sparse. Then came that liquidity event. Last fall, UBS AG announced it was suspending issuance of new notes in a wide swath of its ETRACs ETNs, including SPGH. The notes continued to trade on the NYSE Arca mart and UBS Securities LLC could still sell from its inventory the 3.9 million notes it already held. But no matter; the announcement had a chilling effect on already frozen sales. Then, the ETN dropped off the securities masters of retail brokerages and financial websites. Just try to pull up a quote for SPGH on, say, TD Ameritrade’s (NASDAQ: AMTD ) platform or on Yahoo! Finance nowadays. You get nuthin’. Zip. Nada. Bupkes. And that’s too bad. The notes’ intrinsic value has shot up recently as the equity market faltered and gold finally found a bid. The index underlying the SPGH notes was up 12 percent in January versus a 4 percent gain in the S&P 500. And, in February, the correlation between gold and stocks grew even more negative (see the chart below). Click to enlarge Obviously, the value of these notes can’t be realized by new investors. Oh, sure, you can still find a two-way market posted on NYSE Arca, but you’d have a hard time getting a trade executed if your broker won’t recognize the security. Still, there is hope for those who’d like a self-balancing stock-and-gold package. There’s a new gold-hedged S&P 500 product-this time a fund, not a note-awaiting launch. The REX Gold Hedged S&P 500 ETF (NYSE Arca: GHS) will track virtually the same index as SPGH while carrying lower annual expenses. And it won’t expose holders to the risk of dealing with a capricious debt-issuing bank. Details can be found at www.rexetf.com . Brad Zigler is REP./WealthManagement’s Alternative Investments Editor. Previously, he was the head of marketing, research and education for the Pacific Exchange’s (now NYSE Arca) option market and the iShares complex of exchange traded funds.