Tag Archives: stocks

Emerging Markets Back On Track: 5 Outperforming ETFs

Emerging markets, which were the worst hit by slowing economic growth, China turmoil and the prospect of higher interest rates in the U.S., seem to have been rebounding in recent weeks. This is especially true as the two most popular ETFs – the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA: EEM ) and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA: VWO ) – climbed over 5% in the past five days against gains of 3.4% for the iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (NASDAQ: ACWI ) and 3% for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPY ) , suggesting that the worst might be over. Impressive gains came on the back of stabilization in commodity prices, hopes of additional stimulus from central banks from Asia to Europe, and China’s latest step to arrest the slowdown that led to some gains in emerging market currencies. Additionally, investors’ lack of hope for a rate hike anytime soon fueled the rally in the stocks. Further, data from the Institute of International Finance, which showed that capital flows into emerging markets turned flat in February after seven straight months of outflows, injected fresh optimism into the emerging markets. Notably, net emerging market outflows decreased to $200 million last month, with Latin America pulling in the maximum capital of $2.7 billion, followed by inflows of $1.7 billion in Africa and the Middle East, $1.5 billion in Europe and $300 million in Asia. Apart from positive developments, low valuations made these stocks tempting. As a result, several emerging market ETFs performed remarkably well over the past five days. Of those, we have highlighted the ones that emerged as the true winners of this short-covering rally. PowerShares FTSE RAFI Emerging Markets Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: PXH ) – Up 6.4% This ETF follows the FTSE RAFI Emerging Markets Index and offers exposure to the largest emerging market stocks based on four fundamental measures – book value, cash flow, sales and dividends. Holding 336 securities in its basket, the fund allocates no more than 3.4% in a single security. Financials (31%) and energy (22.6%) take the top two spots. In terms of country holdings, about one-fourth of the portfolio goes to Chinese firms while Taiwan, Brazil, and Russia round off the next three spots with a double-digit exposure each. The fund has amassed $282.1 million in its asset base, and trades in a good volume of around 265,000 shares a day. It charges 49 bps in annual fees from investors and has a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 or ‘Hold’ rating with a Medium risk outlook. iShares MSCI BRIC ETF (NYSEARCA: BKF ) – Up 5.7% This fund targets the four BRIC countries with highest exposure of 57.1% in China, 19.6% in India, 13.7% in Brazil and the rest in Russia. It tracks the MSCI BRIC Index and holds 308 stocks in its portfolio. However, it is skewed towards the top firm – Tencent Holdings ( OTCPK:TCEHY ) – at 6.82%. Other firms hold no more than 4.84% of assets. In terms of sector exposure, financials dominates the fund return with 30% of the portfolio, followed by information technology (18.4%) and energy (12.4%). The fund has accumulated $154.9 million in AUM and trades at a lower volume of 21,000 shares per day on average. It charges 72 bps in expense ratio and has a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 or ‘Sell’ rating with a Medium risk outlook. EGShares Emerging Market Consumer ETF (NYSEARCA: ECON ) – Up 5.5% This ETF targets the consumer sector of the emerging markets by tracking the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer Titans 30 Index. It holds 30 stocks in its basket with heavy concentration on the top firm – Naspers ( OTCPK:NPSNY ) – at 10.3%. The other firms hold less than 5.7% share. From a country look, South Africa occupies the top position with one-fourth of the portfolio while China and Mexico round off the top three with over 16% share. The fund has amassed $549.6 million in its asset base and sees solid average trading volume of more than 352,000 shares. The expense ratio comes in at 0.83%. Schwab Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA: SCHE ) – Up 5.5% This fund tracks the FTSE Emerging Index, holding 776 stocks in its basket. None of the securities accounts for more than 4% of total assets. The product is slightly tilted towards financials at 25%, closely followed by technology (14%) and energy (8%). Here again, China takes the top spot at 26.5% while Taiwan and India receive a double-digit allocation each. SCHE is one of the popular and liquid options in the emerging market space with AUM of $1.5 billion and average daily volume of 848,000 shares. It charges 14 bps in fees per year from investors and has a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 or ‘Hold’ rating with a Medium risk outlook. First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX ETF (NYSEARCA: FEMS ) – Up 5.5% This fund follows the NASDAQ AlphaDEX Emerging Markets Small Cap Index and targets the small cap segment of the emerging market space. Holding 206 securities, the fund is well spread out across each component as each security holds less than 1.5% share. Taiwanese firms take the top spot at nearly 24.2%, closely followed by China (18.2%) and Brazil (12.4%). From a sector look, about one-fifth of the portfolio is allocated to information technology while financials, industrials, and consumer discretionary round off the next three spots with a double-digit allocation each. The product is often overlooked by investors, as depicted by AUM of $36.3 million and average daily volume of roughly 22,000 shares. The expense ratio comes in higher at 0.80%. Original Post

Facebook Runs into Trouble with German Cartel Office

Social media service giant, Facebook IncFB is facing an antitrust probe in Germany. The country’s cartel office or Bundeskartellamt said in a statement that it is “investigating suspicions that with its specific terms of service on the use of

Apple Supplier Broadcom Rockets On Post-Merger Q1 Earnings Beat

Broadcom ( AVGO ) stock rocketed late Thursday after the Apple ( AAPL ) chip supplier topped Wall Street’s fiscal Q1 earnings-per-share expectations by 11 cents and issued Q2 guidance that edged analyst forecasts. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan hinted that Broadcom is already ramping for the likely September release of Apple’s iPhone 7. He acknowledged that wireless demand declined 15% sequentially in Q1 on typical seasonality haunting “our North American customer” (i.e. Apple). Tan isn’t alone. Last month, fellow Apple supplier Qorvo ( QRVO ) guided to weak Q4 sales, tugging Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ), NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) and Cirrus Logic ( CRUS ) into a hole. But Tan expects Q1 to be the year’s “trough.” After-hours Thursday, Broadcom stock lifted 7% on the fiscal Q1 beat, which followed the finalized acquisition of Broadcom by the former Avago Technologies on Feb. 1. The Q1 results relate solely to the former Avago, according to the company release, as the quarter ended Jan. 31, just before the deal was finalized. Broadcom stock closed up a fraction during the regular session. Apple Seasonality Pains Ebb For fiscal Q1, Broadcom reported non-GAAP figures of $2.41 earnings per share on $1.78 billion in sales, up 15% and 8%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. Both measures topped the consensus of 30 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $2.30 and $1.75 billion. During Q1, wired and enterprise storage sales grew 2% and 6%, respectively, on a sequential basis. Industrial sales fell 10% sequentially, trailing the 15% decline in wireless sales, Tan told analysts on the conference call. “Last year, we had unusually high demand in Q1 from a North American customer which offset normal seasonality,” he said. “This year, however — as we all know — seasonality returned and there was a product life cycle demand decline from that specific customer.” This week IDC issued a smartphone forecast that sees iPhone shipments declining 0.1% this year as smartphones running Alphabet ‘s ( GOOGL ) Android operating system rise 7.6%. Tan said on Broadcom’s conference call that he expects weak smartphone demand to reverse in the second half of 2016. Enterprise storage comprises 38% of the former Avago’s total Q1 revenue — the largest segment and leading wireless sales which contributed 32% to the total pot. But, the wired segment is growing and during the April quarter will bring in 55% of sales, Tan said. Wired Sales To Grow The midpoint of current-quarter guidance for $3.55 billion in sales on a non-GAAP basis, plus or minus $75 million, nearly touched the consensus model for $3.57 billion. Current-quarter sales views reflect the combined Avago-Broadcom company. During Q2, wireless and enterprise storage sales will shrink as chunks of total sales to 23% and 17%, respectively, Tan said. Still, all eyes are on Broadcom’s “North American customer” which increased the chipmaker’s RF content in its upcoming flagship smartphone, he said. “We are already pre-building significant quantities of our RF chips” for the second-half of 2016 ramp, he said. “We increase our RF content by 20% year after year in this high-end smartphone market.” But Tan expects greater strength in the wired segment where Broadcom expects to add new products. The segment will also benefit from increased enterprise demand. In May 2015, the former Avago announced a $37 billion bid for fellow Apple supplier Broadcom, kicking off a record-busting year of consolidation in the semiconductor industry amid macro weakness, slowing growth and ramping costs. Post-merger, the company retained Broadcom’s name and Avago’s ticker symbol “AVGO.” Broadcom is one of two chipmakers on the IBD 50 list of top-rated growth stocks. The other is Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) partner Nvidia ( NVDA ).