ETF sectors and rotation

While Congress continues to mull over the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, ETF investors shouldn’t miss out on the Global X Renewable Energy Producers ETF ( RNRG ).

Energy sector-related exchange traded funds rallied on Monday, with crude oil prices touching a near six-week high, after the U.S. government agreed to release some supply from its emergency reserve in response to ongoing output concerns in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

On Thursday, SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSNC) announced that SS&C ALPS Advisors, an asset manager and wholly-owned subsidiary of SS&C, launched the ALPS Global Travel Beneficiaries ETF (JRNY) . 

Large-cap biotechnology stocks finally have some momentum, but relative to the broader healthcare sector, biotech is a 2021 laggard. The situation is worse for smaller biotech stocks and the related exchange traded funds, many of which are in the red on a year-to-date basis.

Tuttle Capital Management has launched a new actively managed ETF that seeks to generate alpha over US large-cap equity benchmarks through a sector rotation strategy.The Revere Sector Opportunity ETF (RSPY US) has been listed on NYSE Arca and comes with an expense ratio of 1.15%.

The lumber industry and sector-related exchange traded funds may have faltered as lumber prices plunged, but the woodcutters may enjoy a seasonal rebound with homebuilders picking up the pace toward the end of the year. During the past three months, the iShares Global Timber & Forestry ETF (WOOD) fell 3.6% and the Invesco MSCI Global Timber ETF (CUT) dipped 0.2%.

Sector rotation, the act of moving in and out of various based on economic climate or market setting, is undeniably made easier with sector exchange traded funds. “For investors looking to take a more active approach to stock diversification—that is, beyond a broad-based index fund—a so-called sector rotation strategy is one way to go,” according to Charles Schwab research. “With this approach, you overweight or underweight various sectors in your portfolio against a benchmark weighting—say, the S&P 500 ®  Index—based on their expected performance.” 

Specialist sector and thematic ETF issuer SonicShares has launched a new ETF providing pure-play exposure to companies engaged in maritime shipping.The fund offers a play on the reopening trade by targeting companies engaged in maritime shipping.

Nvidia Corp. (NasdaqGS: NVDA) rallied Thursday after a majority of analysts upgraded the chipmaker in response to the company’s strong quarterly earnings and outlook, lifting semiconductor sector-specific exchange traded funds. On Thursday, the iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NasdaqGS: SOXX) advanced 0.5%, the  VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) increased 0.7%, and the  Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXQ) rose 1.0%.

On Wednesday, SonicShares™ announced the launch of the  SonicShares™ Global Shipping ETF (NYSE Arca: BOAT) , which seeks to track the Solactive Global Shipping Index. BOAT provides investors with pure-play exposure to a portfolio of global companies engaged in maritime shipping.

Many diversified infrastructure exchange traded funds feature healthy allocations to the utilities sector, but investors looking to play a new round of massive infrastructure spending with utilities stocks may want to go straight to the source.

The utilities sector usually performs admirably when interest rates are low, but the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLU) is up just 4.80% year-to-date, well behind the 17.67% returned by the S&P 500 Index as a whole, as of June 24.

The reflation trade is a phrase generating plenty of buzz this year, and while it’s taking some lumps in recent weeks, some market observers believe it will regain momentum before 2021 concludes. Alone, that’s notable, but making a potential reflationary resurgence worth watching (and participating in) is the sector-level implications that come along with it.