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Best-Performing No Load Mutual Funds In Q3 Of 2015

It is always best to get the most out of one’s invested capital. One way of doing it is by cutting down on the expenses that investors have to bear for owning or selling mutual funds. So, buying funds that carry no sales is the best option. Sales loads are one-time fees that investors pay either at the time of purchase or when units are redeemed. The importance of sales load was all the more felt in the third quarter, when the key benchmarks posted their worst quarterly performance in four years. Just 17% of the mutual funds managed to finish in the green in the third quarter. This was a slump from 41% in the second quarter, which was again a sharp fall from 87% of the funds ending in the positive territory in the first quarter. Separately, a JPMorgan equity strategy note revealed that 67% of mutual funds underperformed their benchmarks in the third quarter. Around 34% of the funds underperformed their peers by a minimum of 250 basis points. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq declined 7.6%, 7% and 7.4%, respectively. In such torrid times, the list of best-gaining mutual funds for the quarter is dominated by no load mutual funds. Robust gains were restricted to Bear Market funds in the third quarter, and were followed by modest gains in other categories. However, the no load funds were unfazed, as they had enough representation in most of the categories. Among the top 100 performers in the third quarter, 85 funds carried no sales load. The best-performing fund in the quarter, ProFunds UltraShort Latin America Fund Inv (MUTF: UFPIX ), gained 67.1%, and needless to mention, it is a no load mutual fund. Comparative Study: No Load Funds’ Q3 Show Out of the 15,129 no load funds we studied, 2, 316 funds posted positive returns in the third quarter. The average gain for these funds came at 1.6%. Among the top 100 performers, the average gain was a significant 12.9%. This is a quite a feat for the top 100 funds that almost reached the top-performing category Bear Market’s quarterly gain of 13.1%. It was followed by Long Government and Long-Term Bond categories’ gains of respectively 4.3% and 1.7%. The disparity in gains among the categories is indicative of how tough a quarter it was for funds. The average gain for the top 100 no load funds in the second quarter was 8.9%. The average gain of the top 100 no load funds also outperformed the average 4.1% gain of the top 100 funds that carry sales load. The load-adjusted return for these funds would again bring down the 4.1% average return. Moreover, the best-performing no-load fund’s quarterly gain of 67.1% far outpaced the top-performing fund with sales load, Rydex Inverse Emerging Markets 2X Strategy Fund A (MUTF: RYWWX ), which gained 43%. RYWWX carries a maximum front-end sales load of 4.75%. (Note: These numbers include same mutual funds of varied classes) Top 15 No-Load Mutual Fund Performers Below we present the top 15 no load mutual funds with the best returns in 3Q of 2015: Fund Name Objective Description Q3 Total Return Q3% Rank vs. Obj. YTD Total Return % Yield Expense Ratio Minimum Initial Investment ($) Beta vs. S&P 500 Rydex Invr Emerging Mrkts 2X Str H Foreign 43.03 1 37.47 0 1.73 2500 -0.27 Rydex Inverse Russell 2000 2x Strat H Growth 24.5 1 8.81 0 1.82 2500 -2.4 Rydex Inverse Russell 2000 Strat H Growth 11.99 1 5.09 0 1.7 2500 -1.2 Rydex Inverse Dow 2X H Agg Growth 11.6 2 8.14 0 1.84 2500 -2.16 Rydex Inverse S&P 500 2x Str H Growth 10.24 1 5.08 0 1.77 2500 -2.02 Gabelli Comstock Capital Value AAA Flexible 10.05 1 3.3 0 2.42 1000 -0.96 Federated Prudent Bear C Growth 7.93 1 0.49 0 2.51 1500 -0.73 Rydex Inverse Mid Cap Strategy H Growth 7.86 1 2.42 0 1.65 2500 -0.97 ATAC Inflation Rotation Investor AssetAlloc 7.33 1 11.69 0.32 1.74 2500 -0.03 Arrow Managed Future Trend C AssetAlloc 7.22 1 4.09 0 2.91 5000 0.19 Rydex Govt Long Bond 1.2x Str Inv Government 6.8 1 -2.16 1.08 0.95 2500 -0.1 GAMCO Mathers Fund AAA Flexible 6.12 2 1.71 0 4.6 1000 -0.53 Fidelity Spartan Long Treas Inv Government 5.49 1 — 2.55 0.2 2500 -0.06 Goldman Sachs Managed Futures C AssetAlloc 5.46 1 12.27 0 2.26 1000 -0.07 Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Inv Government 5.44 2 0.08 2.63 0.2 3000 -0.04 Note: The list excludes the same funds with different classes, and institutional funds have been excluded. Funds having minimum initial investment above $5000 have been excluded. Q3 % Rank vs. Objective* equals the percentage the fund falls among its peers. Here, 1 being the best and 99 being the worst. The top half of this list of 15 best-performing no load mutual funds is dominated by funds that employ the short-selling or inverse strategy. Top performer, Rydex Inverse Emerging Markets 2X Strategy Fund A, seeks a return that is 200% of the inverse daily performance of the BNY Mellon Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index. RYWYX, however, now carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #4 (Sell) . Similarly, the next four funds in the list, Rydex Inverse Russell 2000 2x Strat H, Rydex Inverse Russell 2000 Strat H, and Rydex Inverse Dow 2X H, Rydex Inverse S&P 500 2x Str H seek inverse returns. Funds from the Government Bond category also had a decent representation in this list of best gainers. Remember, this category was the second-best gainer among fund categories in the third quarter, according to Morningstar data. Rydex Government Long Bond 1.2x Strategy Fund Inv (MUTF: RYGBX ), Fidelity Spartan Long Term Trust Bond Index Fund Inv (MUTF: FLBIX ) and Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund Inv (MUTF: VUSTX ) posted gains of 6.8%, 5.5% and 5.4%, respectively. Each of these three funds carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) . Separately, ATAC Inflation Rotation Fund Inv (MUTF: ATACX ) and GAMCO Mathers Fund No Load (MUTF: MATRX ), which posted respective gains of 7.3% and 6.1%, carry a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #3 (Hold) each. The best-performing RYWYX’s gain of over 43% was substantially higher than the second-quarter top scorer Matthews China Dividend Fund Inv ‘s (MUTF: MCDFX ) gain of 14.7%. However, while we have nine funds this time with sub 10% total return, only six had ended below 10% in the second quarter’s top performer list. Also, the lowest gain in the third quarter list of 5.4% compares unfavorably with the second quarter’s 15th-ranked Emerald Banking and Finance Fund Inv ‘s (MUTF: FFBFX ) gain of 8.2%. Original Post

3 Strong Buy Wells Fargo Advantage Funds

Wells Fargo Advantage Funds has over $121.5 billion (excluding money market assets) of assets allocated across a wide range of mutual fund categories. The company manages more than 110 mutual funds, which include both domestic and foreign funds, asset allocation funds and fixed-income funds. The Wells Fargo fund family boasts, “Each fund is guided by a premier investment team chosen for its focused attention to a particular investment style. There’s a fund to meet the investment goals and risk tolerance of almost any investment portfolio.” Meanwhile, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC ), the owner of Wells Fargo Advantage Funds brand, is one of the four largest banks in the U.S. and has a legacy spanning 150 years in the financial services sector. It is a highly diversified financial services company with operations spanning the globe. In 2010, the Boards of Trustees of Wells Fargo Advantage Funds and Evergreen Funds had approved the merger of the fund families to create the new fund lineup under the Wells Fargo Advantage Funds brand. Below we share with you 3 top-rated Wells Fargo Advantage Funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Wells Fargo Advantage Pennsylvania Tax-Free A (MUTF: EKVAX ) seeks to provide tax-exempted income. EKVAX invests a large chunk of its assets in municipal securities that are expected to provide interest income free from Pennsylvania individual income tax and federal income tax, which also include federal alternative minimum tax (AMT). However, EKVAX may invest a maximum of 20% of its assets in municipal securities that pay interests, which are not exempted from federal income tax. The Wells Fargo Advantage PA Tax-Free A fund has returned 2.6% over the past one year. Robert J. Miller is one of the fund managers of CSGEX since 2009. Wells Fargo Advantage Small Company Growth A (MUTF: WFSAX ) invests a major portion of its assets in equity-related securities of small-cap companies. Companies with market capitalizations similar to those included in the Russell 2000 Index are considered small-cap ones by the WFSAX advisors. WFSAX is expected to invest 100% of its assets in the Small Company Growth Portfolio. The Wells Fargo Advantage Small Company Growth A fund has returned 3% over the past one year. As of September 2015, WFSAX held 126 issues with 1.75% of its assets invested in SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SSNC ). Wells Fargo Advantage Core Bond A (MUTF: MBFAX ) seeks total return through growth of capital and income. MBFAX invests the lion’s share of its assets in bonds that are rated investment-grade. MBFAX may invest a maximum of a quarter of its assets in asset-backed securities, which are not from mortgage-backed category. Not more than one-fifth of MBFAX’s assets are expected to be invested in foreign debt securities that are denominated in dollar. MBFAX is expected to maintain a dollar-weighted average effective duration of not more than 10% of that of fund’s benchmark. The Wells Fargo Advantage Core Bond A fund has returned 1.6% over the past one year. MBFAX has an expense ratio of 0.78% as compared to the category average of 0.82%. Original Post

Aerospace And Defense ETFs Flying High On Strong Earnings

The U.S. bourses saw the majority of Q3 earnings releases getting over last week with headwinds from Q2 still at play. A combination of Energy sector weakness, dollar strength and global growth uncertainties weighed on the results. 341 S&P 500 members, accounting for 75.5% of the index’s total market capitalization, have so far reported results. Total earnings for these companies are down 1% on 4.9% lower revenues, with 71.3% beating earnings estimates and 42.7% coming in ahead of revenue estimates. Companies struggled to beat lowered top-line expectations, with the ratio of companies beating revenue estimates being the lowest in the recent past. However, instead of ‘extremely weak’, the Q3 earnings picture is shaping up to be about in line with the preceding quarter, which was by itself a weak reporting season. Despite the headwinds, aerospace & defense, a relatively smaller sector within the S&P 500, held up well this past quarter. They have not only reported better-than-expected results but also lifted their views in the past two weeks. The earnings beat ratio of the entire aerospace and defense companies unfolding their Q3 results is a stellar 77.8%. The U.S. defense sector performed well given the elevated geopolitical risk, a recovering U.S. economy and strong commercial sales. Escalating geo-political tensions in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Korea and Syria boosted demand for defense products. Further, nations such as India, Japan and South Korea are raising their budgets in order to make their defense platforms up to date. Below we have highlighted in greater detail the earnings of some of the major aerospace and defense companies which really drive this sector’s outlook. Quarterly Earnings in Focus The Pentagon’s prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT ), opened this earnings season with robust third-quarter profits. It reported better-than-expected earnings along with higher revenues, solid margins, and strong cash flows, buoyed by robust sales of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The solid quarterly results have enabled it to lift its 2015 guidance for sales, operating profit, and EPS. Aerospace giant, The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA ), delivered third-quarter 2015 adjusted earnings of $2.52 per share, confidently beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.5%. Earnings also increased 18% year over year on the back of strong operational performance. Revenues came in at $25.85 billion for the quarter, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.5% and improving 9% from the year-ago level on solid commercial aircraft deliveries. Boeing raised its full-year earnings outlook to the range of $7.95-8.15 per share from the prior guidance of $7.70-7.90 per share. The company also lifted its revenue guidance for the year to the range of $95-97 billion from $94.5-96.5 billion expected earlier driven by increased commercial delivery outlook. Just after winning a multibillion-dollar contract to build a new U.S. bomber, Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC ) reported solid third-quarter 2015 results with revenue and earnings beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6% and 2.4%, respectively. The maker of the current B-2 bomber and Global Hawk unmanned planes has also increased its profit outlook for the full year. General Dynamics Corp.’s (NYSE: GD ) third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $2.28 per share topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.6% and also increased 11.2% from the year-ago period on the back of higher defense orders and solid demand for its Gulfstream airplanes. Revenues of $7.99 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.1%. The company raised its 2015 profit outlook based on Q3 results, higher deliveries of Gulfstream business jets and surging sales at the submarine-building unit. Earnings are expected to be between $8.90 and $9.00 per share for 2015, up from $8.70 to $8.80 projected earlier. United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX ) reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.67 per share, down 2% year over year. However, the figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.54. Total revenue decreased 6.0% year over year to $13,788 million owing to the impact of adverse foreign exchange and a decline in organic sales. Revenues also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14,593 million. The company reaffirmed its 2015 guidance. ETFs to Play All these major aerospace and defense companies and their ETFs have been experiencing a surge in share prices, since their solid third-quarter earnings results and improved outlook. For investors who want to play the sector in order to capture the impressive trend, there are a few aerospace and defense ETFs available. Below, we have highlighted some of the key points regarding them. iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (NYSEARCA: ITA ) The fund, tracking the Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index, holds 39 securities in its basket with Boeing, United Technologies, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman being the top five stocks. All of them account for more than one-third of the fund assets. With an asset base of nearly $523 million, ITA is the largest player in this space. The fund trades in moderate volumes of roughly 42,000 shares a day and charges an annual fee of 43 bps per year. The fund was up 4.9% in the last two weeks and has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a Medium risk outlook. PowerShares Aerospace & Defense Portfolio (NYSEARCA: PPA ) PPA follows the SPADE Defense Index, with 53 companies involved in the development, manufacturing, operations and support of U.S. defense, homeland security and aerospace operations. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, United Technologies, General Dynamic and Northrop Grumman are among the top 10 holdings and together occupy 30% of total fund assets. The product has managed to garner nearly $238 million in assets so far and trades in an average volume of 36,000 shares per day. It charges 66 bps in annual fees and returned 6.8% in the past two weeks. It currently carries a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium risk outlook. SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (NYSEARCA: XAR ) XAR tracks the S&P Aerospace and Defense Select Industry index, holding a basket of 35 stocks. Boeing, United Technologies, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman score among the top 10 holdings, with a combined share of 18.6%. This product has attracted an AUM of nearly $147 million and exchanges nearly 35,000 shares in hand per day. It charges 35 bps in fees per year and gained 4.6% in the last two weeks. The fund has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium risk outlook. Original Post