First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund (NASDAQ: QTEC)

最新ニュース First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund (NASDAQ:QTEC)

First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund

Technology

Communication Services

Real Estate

Consumer Cyclical

The fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in the common stocks and depositary receipts that comprise the index. The index is an equal-weighted index composed of the securities comprising the NASDAQ-100 Index that are classified as technology according to the Industry Classification Benchmark classification system.

Doordash Inc

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. Class A

Apple Inc

On Semiconductor Corp

Mongodb, Inc.

Meta Platforms, Inc.

Adobe Inc

Intuit, Inc.

Fortinet Inc.

Worldpay Inc

Intel Corp.

Pinduoduo Inc. (adr)

Kla Corp.

Roper Technologies Inc.

Atlassian Corp Plc

Analog Devices, Inc.

Microstrategy Inc Common

Crowdstrike Holdings Inc. Class A

Texas Instruments Inc

Autodesk, Inc.

Ansys Inc.

Palantir Technologies Inc.

Cadence Design Systems Inc.

Zscaler Inc

Palo Alto Networks Inc.

Synopsys Inc.

Broadcom Corp - Common Cl A

Applovin Corporation, Class A

Microsoft Corp

Nvidia Corp.

Datadog Inc. Class A

Microchip Technology Inc.

After a sharp 23% rebound in the S&amp;P 500 since April, hedge funds are now stacking record levels of bearish bets against stocks as investors question the staying power of <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/topic/tariffs">the tariff-relief rally.</a>
Hedge funds have added $25 billion in short equity futures exposure over the last three Commitments of Traders (COT) reports—marking the largest three-week increase in at least a decade. 
This surge underscores deepening skepticism about the market's resilience following its V-shaped recovery after the tariff selloff.
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"> 
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Hedge Funds have added $25 Billion of short equity futures exposure over the last 3 COT reports, the largest increase AT LEAST the last decade &#x1f6a8;&#x1f6a8; <a href="https://t.co/WxiEjHlmDS">pic.twitter.com/WxiEjHlmDS</a>
&mdash; Barchart (@Barchart) <a href="https://twitter.com/Barchart/status/1925047520272502901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
</figure>
Gross leverage, which includes both long and short exposures, has climbed to an all-time high, according to Goldman Sachs analyst Ben Snider. 
Although net leverage—longs minus shorts—remains below February levels, the acceleration in short interest has changed the landscape.
&#8220;As growth and inflation begin to reaccelerate, hedge funds and CTAs continue to fight the cycle—doubling down on long bonds and short risk. The macro bears aren't giving up without a fight,&#8221; said Oskar Vårdal, analyst at Steno Research. 
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Where Are Hedge Funds Targeting Shorts?</h3>
Funds are targeting both exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and single-name stocks. 
According to data from Goldman Sachs, ETF short interest hit $218 billion in the second quarter, while single-stock short interest reached $948 billion. In over a decade, April alone saw the most significant jump in U.S. ETF short selling.
Among U.S.-listed ETFs, SPDR S&amp;P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/KRE#NYSE">KRE</a>) saw its short interest soar by 50 percentage points since mid-February, now totaling 96% of float. SPDR S&amp;P Biotech ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/XBI#NYSE">XBI</a>) rose 27 points to 111%, while iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/IWM#NYSE">IWM</a>) climbed to 33%.
ETFs with the most historically elevated short interest include VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GDX#NYSE">GDX</a>) at 12% of float (100th percentile vs. history, First Trust NASDAQ-100 Tech ETF (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/qtec#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>) at 4% (98th percentile), and iShares Core S&amp;P Mid-Cap ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/IJH#NYSE">IJH</a>) with $1 billion shorted (98th percentile).
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Defensive Sectors Are Under Pressure</h3>
The rise in short interest has been especially acute in defensive sectors. Short interest in consumer staples, utilities, and healthcare sectors now ranks in the top quintile compared to historical norms. The median S&amp;P 500 stock now has a 2.3% short interest relative to market cap, ranking in the 61st percentile over the last 30 years.
Only the financials and information technology sectors show short interest below their long-term averages.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Which Stocks Are Being Targeted By The Heaviest Bearish Bets?</h3>
Large-cap stocks that have seen the biggest spikes in short interest since the February peak include:
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Somnigroup International Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SGI#NYSE">SGI</a>): 13% of float, up 10 percentage points.</li>
<li>Lucid Group Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/LCID#NASDAQ">LCID</a>): 30% of float, up 8pp. </li>
<li>Amer Sports Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AS#NYSE">AS</a>): 12% of float, up 8pp.</li>
<li>Medpace Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MEDP#NASDAQ">MEDP</a>): 11% of float, up 6pp. </li>
<li>Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MRNA#NASDAQ">MRNA</a>): 18% of float, up 6pp.</li>
<li>First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/FSLR#NASDAQ">FSLR</a>): 11% of float, up 5pp. </li>
</ul>
Now Read:
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First Trust NASDAQ-100 Technology Index Fund

QTEC

Hedge Funds Are Building A Towering Wall Of Bets Against Stocks

CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CDW#NASDAQ">CDW</a>) shares are trading higher after the company reported&nbsp;better-than-expected&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/25/02/b43490371/cdw-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2024-earnings" rel="noreferrer noopener">fourth-quarter&nbsp;results</a>.
Net sales rose 3.3% year-over-year to $5.186 billion, beating the consensus of $4.954 billion. Net sales from the Corporate segment increased 4.2% Y/Y to $2.35 billion, and the Small Business segment increased 4.4% Y/Y to $380 million.
Public segment net sales rose 6.1% Y/Y to $1.854 billion, led by higher net sales to Healthcare customers of 29.5% in the quarter. Net sales for CDW&#8217;s U.K. and Canadian operations rose 5.1% Y/Y to $607 million.
Average daily sales surged 5.0% Y/Y to $83.6 million. Gross margin contracted to 22.3% from 23.0% in the quarter.
The adjusted operating margin was 9.6% vs. 10.3% a year ago. Adjusted EPS of $2.48 beat the <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/earnings" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">consensus of $2.32</a>. 
CDW held&nbsp;$717.7 million&nbsp;in cash and equivalents as of December 2024.
Buyback: CDW Board of Directors approved a $750 million increase to its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/25/02/b43490558/cdw-authorizes-750-million-share-repurchase-program-increase-and-declares-quarterly-cash-dividend-" rel="noreferrer noopener">share repurchase authorization</a>.
The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.625 per share (+1% vs. prior year period) payable on March 11, 2025, to all stockholders of record as of February 25, 2025.
Christine A. Leahy, chair and chief executive officer, said, &#8220;In this dynamic environment, our value proposition is stronger than ever as customers turn to CDW to help them address mission-critical IT and operational needs across the full IT solutions stack and lifecycle and guide them through their AI journey.&#8221;
&#8221;For 2025, we continue to target exceeding US IT market growth by 200 to 300 basis points. To achieve this, we will maintain our laser focus on meeting the evolving needs of our more than 250,000 customers around the globe and remaining the partner of choice for more than 1,000 leading and emerging technology brands.&#8221;&nbsp;
Investors can gain exposure to the stock via&nbsp;ProShares S&amp;P Technology Dividend Aristocrats ETF (BATS:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TDV#BATS">TDV</a>) and First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/QTEC#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>).
Price Action: CDW shares are up 4.32% at $207.95 at the last check Wednesday. 
Read Next:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com//node/43496003" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aurora Cannabis Stock Jumps On &#8216;Record-Breaking&#8217; Q3 Earnings</a></li>
</ul>
Photo via Shutterstock.

Earnings

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Tech

IT Company CDW Q4 Earnings: Sales Climb, AI Focus, Stock Buyback Boost & More

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/topic/arm" rel="noreferrer noopener">British chip designer</a> Arm Holdings Plc&#8217;s (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ARM#NASDAQ">ARM</a>) Chinese venture is eyeing Chen Feng, a former Rockchip Electronics Co. officer, as its CEO, taking over from co-CEOs Liu Renchen&nbsp;and&nbsp;Eric Chen.
The appointment would be effective after this week&#8217;s Lunar New Year holidays, Bloomberg <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-29/arm-china-picks-new-ceo-to-parry-chip-geopolitics-in-trump-era?srnd=phx-technology&amp;sref=TBDibEcD" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Given the limitations of the two co-CEOs&#8217; time, the board appointed Chen Feng as the sole full-time CEO.
Also Read: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/24/12/42344006/intel-interim-co-chief-expects-ceo-to-have-foundry-experience-stands-by-forecast" rel="noreferrer noopener">Intel Interim Co-Chief Expects CEO To Have Foundry Background, Stands By Forecast</a>
Liu is affiliated with the Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen. At the same time, Eric Chen, who joined the board while a managing partner at the&nbsp;SoftBank Vision Fund, co-founded ParityBit Technologies.
The two co-CEOs have served as interim leaders of Arm China since the company fired&nbsp;Allen Wu in 2022 for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/22/02/25559674/softbank-owned-arm-faces-china-roadblock-after-nvidia" rel="noreferrer noopener">alleged conflicts of interest</a>. Arm China has historically accounted for 20% of Arm&#8217;s overall sales.&nbsp;&nbsp;
In 2023, Arm <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/government/23/12/36276821/whats-next-for-arm-holdings-over-70-engineers-gone-in-china-as-global-strategy-shifts" rel="noreferrer noopener">fired 70+ engineers</a> in China after a disappointing sales forecast amid a slump in smartphone sales.
A lot has been brewing in the semiconductor space, including the advent of OpenAI&#8217;s ChatGPT, Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NVDA#NASDAQ">NVDA</a>) upping the AI game with its AI GPUs that became <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/25/01/42813592/ai-chip-stocks-nvidia-broadcom-amd-taiwan-semi-micron-super-micro-surge-on-monday-whats-going-on" rel="noreferrer noopener">critical hardware for</a> developing AI models, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSM#NYSE">TSM</a>) manufacturing AI chips for Nvidia, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AAPL#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>), U.S. semiconductor embargo on China and more.
Additionally, the U.S. welcomed Donald Trump as its President on January 20, who had aggressively campaigned for tariffs against China.
Meanwhile, Chinese startup DeepSeek posed a serious contender to OpenAI and&nbsp;Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/META#NASDAQ">META</a>), triggering a $1 trillion selloff this week.
Arm chip designs mainly cater to smartphones, including&nbsp;Apple&#8217;s iPhone.
Arm Holdings stock surged 105% in the last 12 months. Investors can gain exposure to the stock through Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/QQQ#NASDAQ">QQQ</a>), and First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/QTEC#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>).
ARM Price Action: Arm Holdings stock is up 1.43% at $151.60 premarket at last check Wednesday.
Also Read:
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<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/25/01/43286514/spotify-hits-milestone-10-billion-paid-to-music-industry-in-2024-60-billion-since-founding" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify Hits Milestone: $10 Billion Paid to Music Industry in 2024, $60 Billion Since Founding</a></li>
</ul>
Photo by T. Schneider on Shutterstock

Government

Regulations

Management

Media

AAPL

NVDA

Arm China Eyes Leadership Change As AI Boom And US-China Relationship Reshape Industry

On Wednesday, Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MU#NASDAQ">MU</a>) <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/25/01/g42865497/micron-breaks-ground-on-new-hbm-advanced-packaging-facility-in-singapore" rel="noreferrer noopener">broke ground on</a> a new High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) advanced packaging facility near the company&#8217;s current facilities in Singapore.
It marks Singapore&#8217;s first HBM advanced packaging facility, which will be highly automated through AI-based intelligent solutions and feature greenhouse gas abatement technologies.
Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore, Png Cheong Boon, Singapore Economic Development Board Chairman, and other officials attended the ceremony.
Also Read: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/government/24/08/40198085/huawei-and-baidu-increase-samsung-hbm-purchases-as-us-curbs-loom" rel="noreferrer noopener">Huawei And Baidu Increase Samsung HBM Purchases As US Curbs Loom</a>
Operations for the new facility will begin in 2026, and Micron&#8217;s total advanced packaging capacity will expand starting in 2027.
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra flagged that as AI adoption across industries increases, the demand for advanced memory and storage solutions will continue to increase robustly.
Micron&#8217;s HBM advanced packaging investment of ~$7 billion (SG $9.5 billion) through the end of the decade and beyond will initially create around 1,400 jobs.
Site expansion plans to reach an estimated 3,000 jobs, including functions like packaging development, assembly, and test operations.
Micron&#8217;s future expansion plans in Singapore will also support NAND&#8217;s long-term manufacturing requirement.
Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NVDA#NASDAQ">NVDA</a>) chief Jensen Huang announced at CES 2025 that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/movers/25/01/42853369/micron-nvidia-partnership-buzz-blackwell-chips-memory-makers-big-break" rel="noreferrer noopener">Micron&#8217;s HBM chips</a> will power Nvidia&#8217;s latest Blackwell architecture. Nvidia also showcased a $3,000 computer, dubbed Project Digits, featuring Micron&#8217;s DDR5X HBM.
Micron is one of Rosenblatt&#8217;s top picks for 2025, backed by HBM dominance and <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/24/12/42657620/amd-and-micron-top-analyst-picks-for-ai-and-next-gen-tech-growth" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">driving AI and memory cycles</a>.
<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/08/40227015/nvidia-greenlights-samsungs-fifth-gen-hbm3e-chips-for-ai-processors-report" rel="noreferrer noopener">Prior reports indicated</a> that SK Hynix will lead the HBM market in 2024, holding over 52% of the market share, followed by Samsung with 42.4% and&nbsp;Micron with over 5%.
Nvidia approved Samsung&#8217;s fifth-gen HBM3E chips for AI processors, while the 12-layer HBM3E chips are awaiting approval. Morgan Stanley expects the HBM market to grow from $4 billion in 2023 to $71 billion in 2027.
Micron is eying <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/06/39404032/micron-technology-plans-major-us-expansion-and-eyes-malaysia-for-hbm-production-to-compete-with-sk-h" rel="noreferrer noopener">HBM chip production</a> in the U.S. and Malaysia.
Micron stock surged 20% in the last 12 months. Investors can gain exposure to the stock through JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/JEPI#NYSE">JEPI</a>) and First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/QTEC#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>).
Price Action:&nbsp;MU stock traded higher by 1.36% to $103.30 premarket at the last check on Wednesday.
Also Read:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/25/01/42825523/taiwan-semi-likely-for-upside-backed-by-ai-demand-and-advanced-node-pricing-analyst-says" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TSMC Analyst Sees AI, Advanced Nodes Driving Growth In 2025</a></li>
</ul>
Photo via Shutterstock

JEPI

Micron's $7 Billion Bet on AI-Driven Memory In Singapore Facility Set to Boost Innovation

Bank of America published a playbook Tuesday on how to spot recessionary bear markets and which assets perform best <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/topic/recession">during downturns</a>.&nbsp;
The BofA research team named&nbsp;the following three major signs predicting a market crisis by analyzing the previous 150 recession events since 1800 and 16 S&amp;P 500 bear markets during economic downturns:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>1) Steepening of the Treasury yield curve.&nbsp;</li>
<li>2) Stringent lending conditions by banks.</li>
<li>3) Fed forced to cut interest rates.</li>
</ul>
Only the third requirement has yet to occur. Contrary to popular belief, recessionary bear markets generally cause a 25% further decline in stocks following the Fed&#39;s first rate cut, according to BofA.&nbsp;
Bank of America Equity &amp; Quant Strategist Savita Subramanian targets 4,000 on the S&amp;P 500, which is tracked by the SPDR S&amp;P 500 Trust ETF (ARCA: SPY). The stock market might go as low as 3,000 due to dangers such as a recession, more earnings cuts&nbsp;and weakening cyclical indicators, the analyst said.&nbsp;
Read next:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/economics/macro-economic-events/23/04/31659953/recession-playbook-in-action-cooling-labor-market-triggers-rally-in-treasuries-go" target="_blank">Recession Playbook In Action: Cooling Labor Market Triggers Rally In Treasuries, Gold; Stocks Decline</a>
<ul>
</ul>
Yield Curve Inversions Anticipates Recession
The three-month Treasury bill yield is 135 basis points above the yield on a 10-year Treasury note, according to BofA &mdash; the most inverted spread since 1981.&nbsp;
Eight of 10 such yield curve inversions came before recessionary bear markets going back to 1921, the analysts said.&nbsp;
&quot;Markets typically trough 17 months after the curve starts to steepen, as the 2yr/10yr has done.&quot;
<img alt="" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u1363475/t10y2y_2023-04-04_19-31-41_b5375.png" style="height:500px; width:100%" />
Stocks are defying credit-crunch&nbsp;fears and have not yet been priced for a recession, according to BofA. Typically, the S&amp;P 500 price/earnings ratio declines by 6.3, but earnings have yet to fall to&nbsp;historical norms, implying a further 20% downside risk&nbsp;in stocks.&nbsp;
BofA is pessimistic on the technology sector on the basis of its valuations being among the most expensive. The research team highlighted that five companies have averaged 35% returns this year, accounting for 21% of the S&amp;P 500 and 44% of the Nasdaq 100, while the remainder of the market has averaged low single digits.&nbsp;
Investors have another chance of profiting from inflated bonds and stocks, according to BofA.&nbsp;
Technicals Signal Changing&nbsp;Mood: Paul Ciana, head of technical strategy at BofA, said&nbsp;the breadth of market technicals is heading toward&nbsp;more risk aversion&nbsp;in the second quarter of the year, which&nbsp;should favor bonds over stocks.
&ldquo;If the S&amp;P 500 ever goes below the 200-week average, which today has risen to approximately 3,750, then the risk of a secular decline increases like those seen in the 1970s inflationary cycles,&rdquo; the analyst said.
The chart below demonstrates that every time the S&amp;P 500 fell below its 200-day moving average, the bear market intensified.
<img alt="" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u1363475/spx_2023-04-04_19-14-12_a0c27.png" style="height:500px; width:100%" />
Investing During A&nbsp;Recession:&nbsp;The BofA US Regime Indicator has now shifted&nbsp;toward &quot;Downturn&quot; mode. Defensive stocks such as staples,&nbsp;small caps,&nbsp;value, corporate bonds and gold tend to perform better during downturns and recovery periods, the analyst firm said.&nbsp;
BofA likes&nbsp;the iShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF (ARCA: IYK), the Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF&nbsp;(ARCA: CALF), the Vanguard Value ETF (ARCA: VTV), the iShares Fallen Angels USD Bond ETF (ARCA: FALN) and SPDR Gold Trust (ARCA: GLD).&nbsp;
BofA&#39;s favorite&nbsp;trade for the next phase of this bear market is long staples (IYK)/short First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/qtec#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>).
Staples remain undercapitalized and may benefit from &quot;trade-down&quot;&nbsp;effects this year as customers look for lower-cost options, BofA said.
Technology is unreasonably expensive, too concentrated, and has outperformed only under two downturn regimes, the analysts said: the dot-com bubble and Covid.
<img alt="" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u1363475/iyk_qtec_2023-04-04_19-24-48_6b4b7.png" style="height:500px; width:675px" />
Read next:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/04/31664127/whats-going-on-with-bank-of-america-bac-and-wells-fargo-wfc-shares" target="_blank">What&#39;s Going On With Bank Of America (BAC) And Wells Fargo (WFC) Shares</a>
Photo via Shutterstock.&nbsp;
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3 Signs A Recession Is Coming: Just 1 Is Left Before Bank Of America Sounds The Alarm

The hot and soaring technology sector saw its worst day since Jun 9. The S&amp;P 500 tech sector dropped 2.6% on Nov 29 as a result of sector rotation, especially to financials.
	The dual news of Republicans moving closer to passing of the tax-reform legislation and accelerating U.S. economic growth raised the appeal&nbsp; of financial stocks. Investors flocked to these firms seen benefitting more from a potential reduction in the corporate tax rate. Most of the American tech giants pay lower taxes. According to S&amp;P Global data, tech sector pays an effective tax rate of 18.5% - the third lowest among U.S. large caps (see: <a href="https://www.zacks.com/funds/etfs/etf-categories/Technology-ETFs-16">all the Technology ETFs here</a>).
	Additionally, higher economic growth suggests rising interest rates and inflation, thereby leading to solid bank earnings potential on lending activity. &nbsp;
	Market Impact
	The tech rout has pushed Wall Street lower. The Nasdaq Composite Index was hit the hardest. The index declined as much as 2.2% on the day, marking the biggest one-day drop in more than three months. In particular, FAANG stocks, which were the biggest contributors to the tech rally this year, fell the most in 22 months with Netflix NFLX down 5.5%, Facebook FB down 4%, Amazon AMZN down 2.7%, Google parent Alphabet GOOGL down 2.4% and Apple AAPL down 2.1%.
	The drop in semiconductor stocks following Morgan Stanley&#39;s warning intensified the rout. Notably, Philly Semiconductor Index tumbled 4.4% - the biggest daily percentage slide since Dec 1. NVIDIA NVDA witnessed the biggest three-day sell off in 21 months, sliding 6.8% on Nov 29. This was followed by decline of 8.7% for Micron Technology MU, 8.7% for Lam Research LRCX and 7.7% for Applied Materials AMAT (read: <a href="https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/284292/semiconductor-etfs-recoil-on-morgan-stanley-warnings">Semiconductor ETFs Recoil on Morgan Stanley Warnings</a>).
	In the ETF world, Select Sector SPDR Technology ETF XLK shed 2.2% on the day compared&nbsp; with a loss of 0.05% for the broad market fund SPY and 1.7% for Nasdaq ETF QQQ. Semiconductor ETFs declined the most with PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors Fund PSI and First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF FTXL plunging 5.6% and 5.1%, respectively.
	New Tech and Media ETF FNG offering exposure similar to investments in high-performing technology and media leaders as characterized by the FANG stocks acronym, shed 4.2% on the day. Other terrible performers were PowerShares Dynamic Software ETF PSJ, First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector IndexFund QTEC, iShares North American Tech-Software ETF IGV andFirst Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund FXL. These are down more than 3.5%. PSJ and IGV target software industry while QTEC and FXL offer broad exposure to the tech sector.
	Sell-Off: A Solid Buying Opportunity
	Notwithstanding the slide, technology sector is still the best performing sector this year and will&nbsp; maintain the trend heading into the New Year, given expectations of strong earnings, improved overseas industry demand, and innovative technologies.
	The emergence of cutting-edge technology such as cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, wearables, VR headsets, drones, virtual reality devices, and artificial intelligence will continue to fuel growth of the sector. With the global economy gathering strong momentum, technology stocks will continue to outperform and be less susceptible to interest rates or deregulation.
	Though the tech titans will benefit less from corporate tax cuts, they hoard huge cash overseas and are poised to benefit the most from Trump&#39;s repatriation policy. Further, a pick-up in the economy and better job prospects will provide a solid boost to economically sensitive growth sectors like technology, which typically perform well in a maturing economic cycle (read: <a href="https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/281883/7-topranked-tech-etfs-on-unstoppable-rally">7 Top-Ranked Tech ETFs on Unstoppable Rally</a>).
	Moreover, after a brutal decline, most of the tech stocks have become cheap at current levels, offering a nice entry point for investors. As a result, investors could do some bargain hunting on the stocks or ETFs that have become value picks. The ETFs mentioned above have a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), suggesting outperformance in the coming months.
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Futures

AMZN

GOOGL

NFLX

PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust Dynamic Semiconductor Portfolio

PowerShares ETF Tst Dynamic Software Portfolio

Tech ETFs And Stocks Tumble: Time To Buy?

Since coming to market just over three years ago, the First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fv#NASDAQ">FV</a>) has proven popular with advisors and investors that follow Dorsey Wright&#39;s relative strength-based strategies.
That sentiment is confirmed by FV&#39;s more than $2.4 billion in assets under management. FV follows the Dorsey Wright Focus Five Index, which &ldquo;is designed to provide targeted exposure to five First Trust sector and industry based ETFs that Dorsey, Wright &amp; Associates (DWA) believes offer the greatest potential to outperform the other ETFs in the selection universe and that satisfy trading volume and liquidity requirements,&rdquo; according to <a href="http://www.ftportfolios.com/Retail/Etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FV">First Trust</a>.
FV has a counterpart that is proving popular as well. The First Trust Dorsey Wright Dynamic Focus 5 ETF (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fvc#NASDAQ">FVC</a>) adds a cash component to the ETF of ETFs strategy found in FV.
<h3>More About FVC</h3>
Like FV, the First Trust Dorsey Wright Dynamic Focus 5 ETF holds five First Trust sector and industry that are displaying positive relative strength ETFs. FVC&#39;s linuep is as follows: The First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fdn#NYSE">FDN</a>), First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>), First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fxr#NYSE">FXR</a>), First Trust Nasdaq Bank ETF (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ftxo#NASDAQ">FTXO</a>) and the First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fxu#NYSE">FXU</a>).
&ldquo;While we are pitted firmly in corporate earnings season now as we have repeatedly documented in this daily piece, a fund such as FVC may be potentially very useful in monitoring how various sectors are reacting to earnings hits and misses around the markets and how these industries are trading relative to one another since they are constantly in motion,&rdquo; said <a href="http://streetonefinancial.com/">Street One Financial</a> Vice President Paul Weisbruch in a recent note.
FVC&#39;s index &ldquo;is designed to provide targeted exposure to five First Trust sector and industry based ETFs and the Nasdaq US T-Bill Index,&rdquo; <a href="http://www.ftportfolios.com/Retail/Etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FVC">according to First Trust</a>.
<h3>Slight Differences ... So Far</h3>
Year to date, FV is up 9.4 percent while FVC is higher by 9.1 percent, indicating that the latter&#39;s cash component is not restraining its ability to compete with the former&#39;s returns this year.
FVC debuted in March 2016 and has established a solid following as highlighted by $331.1 million in assets under management. Regarding FV and FVC, investors should stay up-to-date regarding possible changes in the ETFs&#39; rosters.
&ldquo;Of course, being a rules-based strategy it is helpful to look at these holdings a couple times per month to see if there have been any relative strength changes in the marketplace that warrant a reshuffling of the portfolio and perhaps this will lend clues to which names/sectors will be shorter and longer term leaders and laggards,&rdquo; added Weisbruch.
Related Links:
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/17/08/9851427/revisiting-some-high-dividend-etfs">Revisiting High Dividend ETFs</a>
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/general/biotech/17/07/9845505/spicing-up-the-health-care-trade">Some Spice With A Healthcare ETF</a>

First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund

FTXO

First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX Fund

A Different Spin On A Popular ETF

The PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF) (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qqq#NASDAQ">QQQ</a>) is the exchange-traded fund investors primarily turn to when looking for exposure to the widely followed NASDAQ-100 Index (NDX).
Investors usually seek such exposure because they want exposure to technology. Though down from its highest allocations to tech stocks at the apex of the 2000 tech bubble, the NASDAQ-100 still devotes over 56 percent of its weight to tech names. However, that also means it is not a pure play tech benchmark, as consumer discretionary and healthcare (mostly biotech) names combine for a third of <a href="https://www.invesco.com/portal/site/us/financial-professional/etfs/product-detail?productId=QQQ&amp;ticker=QQQ&amp;title=powershares-qqq">the index&#39;s weight</a>.
<h3>All About That Tech</h3>
Investors insisting on technology sector purity with their Nasdaq ETFs can turn to the First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Ix Fd (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>). QTEC, which was one of just 25 ETFs to hit all-time highs last Friday, follows the NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index. That index is essentially the all tech offshoot of the traditional NASDAQ-100.
What that means is that investors should not expect to find biotech stocks in QTEC nor should they expect to find shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/amzn#NASDAQ">AMZN</a>), one of QQQ&#39;s largest holdings, because it is classified as a consumer discretionary name, not as a tech stock.
So, it can be said that QTEC&#39;s ascent to an all-time high last Friday is all the more impressive given that the ETF features no exposure to Amazon and no exposure to recently resurgent biotech names.
<bzrelatedlink>Related Link: <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/16/08/8349366/4-ways-you-can-ride-the-coattails-of-billionaire-investors">4 Ways You Can Ride The Coattails Of Billionaire Investors</a></bzrelatedlink>
Honing in on what are the driving forces behind QTEC&#39;s 13.3 percent year-to-date, which is more than double that of the traditional NASDAQ-100, semiconductor and software stocks combine for nearly two-thirds of the ETF&#39;s weight. Six of QTEC&#39;s top 10 holdings are chip names. No stock commands a weight of more than 3.47 percent among QTEC&#39;s 36 holdings.
Interestingly, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>) is just 2.9 percent of QTEC&#39;s weight compared with being 10.6 percent of the standard NASDAQ-100 Index.
&ldquo;&ldquo;Earnings growth has slowed for the Tech sector, and this year may stall altogether. But margins and ROE remain impressively high and the long-term EPS growth forecast still exceeds that for the S&amp;P 500. Meanwhile the sector trades at a P/E discount to the S&amp;P 500, whereas historically it has enjoyed a premium,&rdquo; according to <a href="http://altavista-research.com/">AltaVista Research</a>.
QTEC has $280.2 million in assets under management and charges 0.6 percent per year, or $60 on a $10,000 investment.
Do you have ideas for articles/interviews you'd like to see more of on Benzinga? Please email <a href="mailto:feedback@benzinga.com">feedback@benzinga.com</a> with your best article ideas. One person will be randomly selected to win a $20 Amazon gift card!

The Nasdaq With Just The Tech

Friday was again a nice way to end a tumultuous week. It started with a bang on Monday like was expected in the last recap. Unfortunately, the next few days were fraught with disappointments.

	What&#39;s next? Just like last week, It seems likely that Monday traders will build on the Friday strength. This week, the iShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/tlt#NYSE">TLT</a>) threatened with another breakout attempt and remains dangerously high.

	How to profit?

	Markets still expect a sell off. Some expect it to be followed by new highs. Neither seems particularly likely, so it&#39;s likely that it will meander about the same range of late. So it&#39;s a good idea to sell premium outside of these levels.

	Bearish option plays:
<ul>
<li>
		Buying S&amp;P 500 (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/spy#NYSE">SPY</a>) puts or put spreads around 1865. This will take advantage of a dip towards the high mark of 1850. This can be financed by selling risk below it.</li>
<li>
		Selling lower credit put spreads would recoup some of the put spread cost.</li>
<li>
		Do the opposite: Meaning sell credit call spreads to finance alone or in conjunction with debit call spread if one anticipates a run up into next week.</li>
<li>
		Bi-directional option trades: sell an iron condor in SPY, Russell 2000 (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/iwm#NYSE">IWM</a>) or Nasdaq 100 (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>) and let time decay make money by depleting the values of those iron condors. Then buy them back cheaper for a profit or expire them for maximum gains.</li>
<li>
		Selling credit put spreads in Apple (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>) June contracts. For this, one can hedge the bet by selling June NDX credit call spreads just in case traders sell Apple in the next couple of weeks.</li>
<li>
		Sell most momentum moves as the momentum play in 2014 has been broken. Contrary to 2013, the momentum moves are shortable with relative ease especially if married with a few long positions.</li>
</ul>

	Here are other factors impacting the markets:

	The VIX is still too low. There appears to be more upside potential than downside risk, which is concerning.

	Options make up: Optimism reigns as more call than puts in most major companies.

	MOMOs: Momentum stocks need to show that they can hold on to their bids more than one day. Until then, it is not advisable to chase run ups.

	The Apple Rabbit: It closed 585 which is right in the middle of the pin zone highlighted at 580/587.5. This is not too bad given the rumors of a good size acquisition was badly received.

	TNX: Still in freefall and needs to find footing.

	TLT: Ripping and needs to abate to make room for markets to trade based on company fundamentals.

	The YEN: Also retreated but still too high.

	Check out the video below for a recap of this week&#39;s options outlook:

	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/deGf7B2PkpI" width="640"></iframe>

Previews

Options

Pre-Market Outlook

iShares Trust Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund

Options Outlook For The Week Of May 19: Bears Showing No Claws

On the surface, it would appear to be a disappointing year for technology sector ETFs. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xlk#NYSE">XLK</a>) is up a mere 9.9 percent year-to-date, a performance that trails the SPDR S&amp;P 500 (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/spy#NYSE">SPY</a>) by 670 basis points.

	Of the nine sector SPDRs ETFs, XLK ranks seventh on a year-to-date basis and is being kept out of the last place by the Materials Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xlb#NYSE">XLB</a>) and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xlu#NYSE">XLU</a>), the latter of which <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/markets/bonds/13/09/3883009/rising-rates-could-make-these-etfs-betray-seasonal-trends">has wilted in the face of rising interest rates</a>.

	What is disappointing about the performance of the cap-weighted, large cap-focused XLK is that when stripping out AT&amp;T (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/t#NYSE">T</a>) and Verizon (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/vz#NYSE">VZ</a>) to focus on the pure tech names among the ETF's top-10 holdings, five of the remaining eight names have traded higher this year. In fact, XLK is not even the best U.S. technology sector ETF issued by State Street Global Advisors. That honor goes to the SPDR Morgan Stanley Technology ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/mtk#NYSE">MTK</a>), which has returned 15.3 percent this year with some help from Facebook (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fb#NASDAQ">FB</a>) and Priceline.com (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pcln#NASDAQ">PCLN</a>).

	Related: <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/13/07/3749849/the-race-to-1-000-etf-youve-never-heard-of">The Race To $1,000 ETF You've Never Heard Of</a>.

	Still, it is possible to find market-beating U.S.-focused tech ETFs. Even when excluding the PowerShares S&amp;P SmallCap Information Technology Portfolio (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psct#NASDAQ">PSCT</a>), has been <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/13/08/3855714/small-cap-tech-etf-merits-consideration">a stellar performer in its own right</a>, investors could have done this year with tech ETFs this year.

	The right tech ETFs that is. Some of this year's top tech ETFs share an important trait in common. These funds offer investors exposure to the increasingly prominent theme of <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/13/05/3587943/two-top-ideas-among-fundamentally-weighted-etfs">fundamental weighting methodologies</a>.

	Take the PowerShares Dynamic Technology Sector Portfolio (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ptf#NYSE">PTF</a>) as one example. PTF is weighted by factors including rice momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action, and value. None of the ETF's 61 holdings account for more than 2.82 percent of the fund's weight. Apple (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>) is not a member of PTF's lineup, which is a good thing given that the stock has traded lower this year.

	However, PTF has gained 14.4 percent this year while also excluding Google (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/goog#NASDAQ">GOOG</a>) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/msft#NASDAQ">MSFT</a>), just to name a pair of large-cap tech stocks that have performed well in 2013.

	Speaking of Apple, well-documented has been the stock's impact on various ETFs and how funds with excessive to the stock are vulnerable when Apple falls. Equal-weight ETFs <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/04/2473809/blasphemy-equal-weight-apple-aapl-qqqe-ryt">avoid that conundrum</a>.

	The First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>) and the Guggenheim S&amp;P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ryt#NYSE">RYT</a>) are up an average of 20.5 percent this year. Both funds feature scant allocations to Apple, but the same goes for their exposure to Google. RYT actually has a slightly larger weight to Yahoo (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/yhoo#NASDAQ">YHOO</a>) than it does Google. RYT is up 21.6 this year, meaning it has topped Google by 260 basis points.

	The First Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fxl#NYSE">FXL</a>) <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/13/01/3284663/under-the-hood-a-better-way-to-tech">also eschews cap-weighting</a> in favor of a mix of growth and value factors, including price appreciation, sales to price and one year sales growth, book value to price, cash flow to price and return on assets.

	Apple happens to be FXL's largest holding at 2.3 percent of the fund's weight. The 1.35 percent allocation to Google is well below the weights given to 3D Systems (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ddd#NYSE">DDD</a>), Groupon (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/grpn#NASDAQ">GRPN</a>) and Yahoo, just to name a few. The result is an ETF up 19.6 this year.

	Another thing these ETFs share in common is not none are particularly large, though three have over $100 million in assets under management. Combined, PTF, QTEC, RYT and FXL have about $707 million in AUM compared to $11.3 billion for XLK.

	For more on ETFs, click <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/etfs">here</a>.

	Disclosure: Author does not own any of the securities mentioned here.

Intraday Update

GOOG

GRPN

MSFT

PCLN

PSCT

Powershares Dynamic Technology Securitytor Portfolio

Rydex ETF Trust Rydex S&P Equal Weight Technology ETF

YHOO

An Interesting Year For Tech ETFs

Shares of social media giant Facebook (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fb#NASDAQ">FB</a>) could get a lift over the next several days as fund managers and ETF sponsors acquire the stock in anticipation of it joining the Nasdaq 100 at the start of trading on Wednesday, December 12, 2012.

NASDAQ OMX (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ndaq#NASDAQ">NDAQ</a>) made the announcement after the close of U.S. markets on Tuesday. The news means Facebook is headed for the PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qqq#NASDAQ">QQQ</a>), the ETF often referred to as the "Nasdaq 100 tracking ETF." 

With $30.9 billion in assets under management, QQQ is not only one of the largest U.S.-listed ETFs of any kind, it will also be the largest ETF to be home to Facebook. Currently, the largest ETF by assets to <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/10/3039464/facebook-via-etfs">hold shares of Facebook is the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSE: </a><a class="ticker" href="/stock/fdn#NYSE">FDN</a>).

Facebook will replace Indian information technology firm Infosys (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/infy#NASDAQ">INFY</a>). That stock currently accounts for 0.1 percent of QQQ's weight.

While most investors are likely to focus on Facebook's addition to QQQ because it is a large, popular ETF, it should be noted that <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/facebook-inc-join-nasdaq-100-010500309.html">the statement issued by NASDAQ OMX points out</a> Facebook will join the the NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index (Nasdaq:NDXE), and the NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index (Nasdaq:NDXT) as well.

The NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index is the index tracked by the First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund is (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#NASDAQ">QTEC</a>). Home to 44 stocks, QTEC is not exactly small with nearly $113 million in assets. 

The NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index is the index tracked by the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qqew#NASDAQ">QQEW</a>) and the Direxion NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qqqe#NASDAQ">QQQE</a>). 

Currently, the ETF with largest weight to Facebook is the First Trust US IPO Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fpx#NYSE">FPX</a>) at almost 10 percent. The first ETF to have included Facebook in its lineup was the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/socl#NYSE">SOCL</a>).

For more on Facebook and ETFs, click <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/10/3039464/facebook-via-etfs">here</a>.

New ETFs

INFY

NDAQ

First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund

QQEW

QQQE

SOCL

Facebook Heading to Nasdaq 100; Will Join at Least 4 More ETFs

Considering how ugly the broader market is today, the fact that Apple (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#Nasdaq">AAPL</a>) is down just 1% with 30 minutes in the trading day isn't too shabby. One day and a 1% decline does not represent a break in what has become one of the most impressive single-stock bull trends in recent memory. That's a good thing because so many investors have not only been drawn to Apple shares, but to various ETFs <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/04/2466996/apple-slices-these-sub-80-etfs-have-it-aapl-xlg-ftq">as proxies for the stock</a>.

Rather than incurring the potential downside risks of an ETF that features a large weight to Apple such as the PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qqq#Nasdaq">QQQ</a>), Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xlk#NYSE">XLK</a>) or the iShares Dow Jones US Technology Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/iyw#NYSE">IYW</a>), the ETF with the largest allocation to Apple, the evidence is compelling regarding equal-weight ETFs with only modest weights to the iPhone maker.

After highlighting the risks posed to investors by <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/12/04/2470963/apple-and-etfs-danger-ahead-aapl-qqq-xlk">ETFs with excessive Apple allocations</a> Street One Financial President Scott Freeze talked with Benzinga today and continued to extol the virtues of equal-weight ETFs over those funds that bulging at the seams with Apple.

Freeze favors the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qqew#Nasdaq">QQEW</a>). Apple accounts for just 1.02% of QQEW's weight and isn't even among the ETF's top-30 holdings, but even with a significantly lower weight to Apple than QQQ or XLK QQEW "is actually performing better on the upside than one would expect and the downside risk isn't as high," Freeze said in the interview.

One potential risk to those that are long ETFs such as QQQ and XLK is the possibility of major indexes such as the Nasdaq 100 rebalancing, which it did last year, to lower Apple's weight. Freeze notes a snowball effect could take place.

"When an index is reweighted, there are sell orders from every ETF and mutual fund that hold Apple," Freeze said. "There could be 10 million Apple shares for market-on-close orders when the stock is trading at $620 and that could lead to Apple closing at $595. It's hard to find the offsetting order flow for 10 million-share orders." (Note this is a hypothetical example.)

Of course, that would create selling pressure in ETFs, but sizable orders to sell Apple would impact the likes of QQQ and XLK more than QQEW, according to Freeze.

Year-to-date, QQEW has trailed QQQ by less than 5% and XLK by less than 3%. The First Trust NASDAQ-100-Tech Index Fund (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#Nasdaq">QTEC</a>), which isn't an equal-weight ETF, is up over 16% year-to-date despite an allocation of just 2.42% to Apple.

In other words, investors aren't giving much away in terms of performance to lower their exposure to Apple-specific risks. As Freeze said "Investors buy ETFs to avoid single-stock risk. Apple as one-fifth of an ETF defeats the purpose."

Freeze also mentioned the newly minted Direxion Nasdaq 100 Equal Weighted Index Shares ETF (NYSE: QQQE) as possible option for investors looking for an equal-weight approach to the Nasdaq 100. QQQE debuted in late March.

Another option to consider is the Guggenheim S&amp;P Equal Weight Technology ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ryt#NYSE">RYT</a>). Apple is RYT's second-largest holding at1.59%, trailing the 1.68% Red Hat (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/rht#NYSE">RHT</a>) garners. Still, RYT was up more than 17% year-to-date at the start of trading today.

After-Hours Center

iShares Dow Jones US Technology Sector Index Fund

Blasphemy: Equal-Weight Apple? (AAPL, QQQE, RYT)

While most of the good cheer in tech land this year can be attributed to seemingly never ending rise of some company called Apple (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#Nasdaq">AAPL</a>), it's hard to argue with the results as the Nasdaq composite was up more than 12% year-to-date at the start of trading Friday. The index is now found flirting with 3,000, a number that hasn't been seen since the tech bubble burst in 2000.

It's a good news/bad news scenario in some regards. Good news because tech's fortunes are vital to the health of the broader market. Bad news because Apple at almost $550 is off limits to many retail investors. Well, it <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2347838/no-apple-no-problem-for-these-tech-etfs">always have to be about Apple</a> especially when talking ETFs.

And even though tech stocks and two or three big tech ETFs get plenty of press, there are still a few other ETF options for this sector we think your broker is neglecting to tell you about. We'll fix that right now.

iShares MSCI All Country Asia Information Technology Index Fund (Nasdaq: AAIT)It has been hard <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2310295/more-me-too-etfs-from-ishares-debut-today">keeping up with all of the new funds</a> iShares has introduced this year and its reasonable to expect a couple are going to fall through the cracks. AAIT is one of them. The month-old ETF will be down since inception unless today's decline reverses, but that's a short-term view of things.

While volume has been scant, AAIT has already accumulated over $5.5 million in AUM. The 111-stock ETF has a couple of traits investors should note. First, semiconductor stocks account for a third of the fund's weight. Second, the name may say "All Country," but Japan, Taiwan and South Korea represent about 89% of the fund's country allocation.

First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#Nasdaq">QTEC</a>)
The First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund got off to such a good start this year, that for a few weeks, the ETF was actually outperforming Apple. That's no longer the case, but the ETF is still delivering better returns than several big name tech titans. Not only has QTEC looked a whole better than Amazon (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/amzn#Nasdaq">AMZN</a>), but it has outpaced constituents Intel (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/intc#Nasdaq">INTC</a>) and Google (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/goog#Nasdaq">GOOG</a>) as well. QTEC may not garner many headlines, but the ETF has over $169 million in AUM.

iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Information Technology Sector Index Fund (NYSE: AXIT)
It's OK if you haven't heard about the iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Information Technology Sector Index Fund. You're not alone. The ETF is almost two years old, has just $2.75 million in AUM and doesn't even average 120 shares per day in volume. Like AAIT, AXIT is heavy on Japan, Taiwan and South Korea (that trio represents almost two-thirds of this fund's weight). 

Simply put, if you're in AAIT or another global tech fund, you don't need AXIT and its huge bid/ask spreads. If this wasn't an iShares ETF, chances are it would be headed to the ETF dumpster.

SPDR S&amp;P International Technology Sector ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ipk#NYSE">IPK</a>)
The SPDR S&amp;P International Technology Sector ETF has left a little something on the table vs. the Nasdaq this year and that might be attributable to its country breakdown. IPK offers exposure to 19 countries, and surprise surprise, Japan and South Korea account for 60% of that. That's not the problem. The problem is scant emerging markets exposure after South Korea and allocations to ten European nations. 

To IPK's credit, it is the second-best performer on this list behind QTEC.

Emerging Market ETFs

INTC

SPDR S&P International Technology Sector ETF

More Tech ETFs Your Broker Isn't Telling You About (AAPL, QTEC, IPK)

Those not living in a cave knows that tech juggernaut Apple (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#Nasdaq">AAPL</a>) is unveiling a new product on March 7 and chances are it's going to be <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/news/12/02/2380546/apple-hits-new-all-time-highs-in-wake-of-ipad3-announcement">the iPad 3</a>, the next generation of the wildly popular tablet device.

Apple has sold 55 million iPads and the product has accounted for at least $34.5 billion in revenue for the California-based company. As we reported yesterday, the new iPad is expected to feature a high-definition display, an upgraded processor, and run on 4G networks.

It may also be more expensive than its predecessors. There's likely to be plenty of innuendo and rumor regarding the new iPad over the next few days, but cast the rumors aside and focus on these ETFs that could benefit from the latest dominant Apple product.

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Sector Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/iyw#NYSE">IYW</a>)
It is often thought that among the well-known ETFs with decent liquidity, either the PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qqq#Nasdaq">QQQ</a>) or the Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xlk#NYSE">XLK</a>) feature the largest allocations to Apple. Not bad guesses, but they're both wrong. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Sector Index Fund features an almost 20% allocation to Apple.

That's a large weight to just one stock under any circumstances, but especially when considering IYW holds nearly 160 issues. IYW is trading at 11-year highs, but like the Nasdaq, that's still well below its 12-year high. Believe it or not, not long after IYW debuted in 2000, it surged over $135. The iPad 3 could help, but we're not convinced the ETF is going back to the $130 area just because of one new Apple product.

iShares S&amp;P Global Technology Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ixn#NYSE">IXN</a>)
The iShares S&amp;P Global Technology Index Fund is one of the better case studies in just how important Apple has become to the U.S. equity market. No one really discusses the ETF in those terms though. Two years ago, Apple represented 7.7% of IXN's weight. Today, that weight has jumped to over 15.3%. 

Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/tsm#NYSE">TSM</a>), supplies Apple with the A6 processor chips, while Samsung supplied the A4 and A5 chips. Both are in IXN's top-10 holdings, so there's a little more to the ETF's Apple story.

Global X NASDAQ China Technology ETF (Nasdaq: QQQC)
If there is anything that could tarnish Apple's reputation beyond its egregious hoarding of cash that does nothing for investors, it is the controversy surrounding the labor practices at Foxconn, the Chinese company that actually puts the iPad together. Should one be looking to invest in Foxconn, the stock is the tenth-largest holding in the Global X NASDAQ China Technology ETF.

Beyond the controversy, there are legitimate reasons <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2312968/these-em-etfs-can-extend-their-rallies">to consider QQQC</a> and its rival, the Guggenheim China Technology ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cqqq#NYSE">CQQQ</a>).

SPDR S&amp;P Semiconductor ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xsd#NYSE">XSD</a>)
The SPDR S&amp;P Semiconductor ETF doesn't hold Apple. What the ETF does hold is <a href="http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_Supplier_List_2011.pdf">Apple suppliers</a>. A fair amount of them in fact, making the ETF an interesting backdoor to iPad 3 mania.

First Trust NASDAQ-100-Tech Index Fund (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#Nasdaq">QTEC</a>)
Siri is believed to be a foregone conclusion on the iPad 3 and QTEC is just <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2339712/siri-whats-your-etf-situation">one of a few ETFs</a> that can be considered Siri plays. Siri, can you make QTEC keep going up this year?

Events

Global

CQQQ

iShares Trust S&P Global Information Technology Sector Index Fund

ETFs For The iPad 3 

Apple (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#Nasdaq">AAPL</a>) and its run to the stratosphere has been a boon for <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2343618/not-the-usual-suspects-other-etfs-benefiting-from-apples-run-">myriad tech ETFs</a>. That much is clear and the Apple juggernaut has been good for tech ETFs beyond the Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xlk#NYSE">XLK</a>) and the PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qqq#Nasdaq">QQQ</a>). 

Yes, it should be noted that "only" 67.6% of QQQ's weight is in the tech sector, but when factoring in the ETF's weight to so-called consumer discretionary stocks such as Amazon (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/amzn#Nasdaq">AMZN</a>), Priceline (Nasdaq: <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/stock/pcln">PCLN</a>) and Netflix (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/nflx#Nasdaq">NFLX</a>), QQQ's tech-esque exposure jumps a fair amount.

Home to almost $33.1 billion in assets under management, QQQ isn't just one of the biggest tech ETFs, it's one of the biggest U.S.-listed ETFs period. But as we always say around these parts <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/11/12/2198258/bigger-isnt-always-better-with-etfs-part-iv">bigger isn't always better</a>.

Several under-the-radar tech ETFs are outperforming QQQ year-to-date and what's even more surprising about this group is that none of these funds offer significant exposure to Apple.

PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pnqi#Nasdaq">PNQI</a>)
Not only has the PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio outperformed QQQ this year, it has outperformed its most direct competitor, the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fdn#NYSE">FDN</a>). PNQI is home to 63 stocks and not one of them is Apple, making the ETF's 14% year-to-date gain all the more impressive. Priceline, eBay (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ebay#Nasdaq">EBAY</a>), Baidu (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bidu#Nasdaq">BIDU</a>), Google (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/goog#Nasdaq">GOOG</a>) and Amazon are PNQI's top-five holdings.

Guggenheim China Technology ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cqqq#NYSE">CQQQ</a>)
We've been bullish <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2312968/these-em-etfs-can-extend-their-rallies">on CQQQ for a while now</a> and that posture has been rewarded. Simply put, tech has been good to investors this year as has China. Put them together and its all very good. As the ETF's name implies, CQQQ is home to all Chinese companies, 40 of them to be precise. No Apple, no problem. CQQQ has slightly outpaced QQQ this year.

First Trust NASDAQ-100-Tech Index Fund (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#Nasdaq">QTEC</a>)
OK, we've got to admit the First Trust NASDAQ-100-Tech Index Fund does have some Apple exposure. A whopping 2.64% of QTEC's weight was allocated to Apple as of the close on February 14. That compares to almost 17% of QQQ's weight going to the iPad maker. No big deal. QTEC could be 15% year-to-date by the close today and the ETF is less than 50 cents off its 52-week high. 

Note that QTEC is semiconductor heavy as that subsector accounts for over 37% of the ETF's weight, but Intel (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/intc#Nasdaq">INTC</a>) is receives an allocation of just 2.3%. 

Rydex S&amp;P Equal Weight Technology ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ryt#NYSE">RYT</a>)
This is another ETF with some Apple exposure. All of 1.62% of the ETF's weight. Well, that doesn't really matter because the Rydex S&amp;P Equal Weight Technology ETF has outperformed both QQQ and XLK this year. In the case of XLK, the margin is quite wide despite the SPDR fund devoting almost 17% of its weight to Apple.

BIDU

EBAY

PNQI

No Apple, No Problem For These Tech ETFs

To say the iPhone <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/tech/12/02/2339164/is-your-iphone-a-new-therapist-or-antidepressant">is useful beyond texting and calls</a> diminishes the wildly popular smartphone. And let's be honest, even some anti-iPhone folks out there have to admit Siri is a pretty neat addition to any smartphone's capabilities.

Siri, which has quickly garnered a cult following and frequent pop culture mentions, is property of Apple (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#Nasdaq">AAPL</a>) and we all know that there are <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/11/12/2225681/take-a-bite-out-of-apple-with-these-obscure-etfs">plenty of ETFs with which to gain exposure to that high-flying stock</a>. 

However, Siri's popularity may be helping Apple steal market share from rivals and that could force those rivals to develop their own Siri equivalents. That opens the field up a bit to ETFs that are Siri plays or plays on voice command technology at large. Consider the following options.

iShares S&amp;P North American Technology-Software Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/igv#NYSE">IGV</a>)
Nuance Communications (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/nuan#Nasdaq">NUAN</a>) makes software that is part of the Siri system, but that little factoid isn't enough to have landed the stock in a lot of ETFs. Less than 50 ETFs currently count Nuance among their holdings and the ones that do feature the stock, usually do so with meager percentages. IGV is one of just a few that have a somewhat respectable allocation to Nuance. Up over 14% year-to-date, IGV would be a nice pullback play if it retreats and finds support around $59.

First Trust NASDAQ-100-Tech Index Fund (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#Nasdaq">QTEC</a>)
The First Trust NASDAQ-100-Tech Index Fund is home to 43 stocks, but none receive an allocation above 3.38%, so Nuance checking in at 2.14% is somewhat noteworthy as far as this ETF is concerned. Actually, Nuance receives a bigger allocation in this ETF than Google (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/goog#Nasdaq">GOOG</a>) and Oracle (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/orcl#Nasdaq">ORCL</a>) do.

Global X NASDAQ 500 ETF (Nadaq: QQQV)
This new ETF from Global X offers a small allocation to Nuance, but it's lineup is smartphone heavy. Apple and Google combine for over 17% of the ETF's weight and QQQV is home to scores of other tech names that either currently have smartphone exposure or are looking to break into that market.

iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ewy#NYSE">EWY</a>)
Samsung, which is EWY's largest holding at over 19%, is one of Apple's primary smartphone rivals. Translation: There's a fair chance the South Korean technology giant will be looking for its own answer to Siri sooner than later. Beyond the smartphone angle, EWY is one of the better emerging markets ETFs for conservative investors and the fund currently offers some value in the high $50s as a run to the mid-$60s is possible if investors continue embracing emerging markets this year.

First Trust NASDAQ CEA Smartphone Index Fund (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fone#Nasdaq">FONE</a>)
FONE has had its share <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/11/12/2227751/new-kids-on-the-block-first-trusts-top-new-etfs-of-2011">of detractors</a>. With a 14% year-to-date gain, we haven't heard much from them. FONE is home to 70 stocks, includng Apple, Google, Samsung and other marquee smartphone players, and over 56% of the ETF's weight is focused on companies based outside of the U.S. For some reason, Nuance Communications is NOT found in FONE's book, but the ETF is still a valid voice command play.

FONE

NUAN

ORCL

Siri: What's Your ETF Situation?

Find out what Don Dion was blogging about this past week on RealMoney.

DELL

Dion's Weekly ETF Blog Wrap

After declines early in the trading day, tech stocks were able to turn things around following positive news from the Federal Reserve.
The Fed predicted a moderate economic recovery and maintained its current money policy.
The First Trust NASDAQ-100-Tech Index (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qtec#Nasdaq">QTEC</a>) exchange traded fund was up nearly 1% for the day.
Shares of chipmaker Altera Corp. (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/altr#Nasdaq">ALTR</a>) climbed more than 5% after the company reported profits.
After falling earlier in the day, Oracle Corporation (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/orcl#Nasdaq">ORCL</a>) recovered for a modest gain. Prior to the market opening, the company announced that its acquisition of Sun Microsystems was complete.
Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#Nasdaq">AAPL</a>) shares were also down early in the day before staging a modest recovery. CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the highly anticipated iPad today, which will play an important role in Apple's product line.

ALTR

Tech Stocks Rebound After Early Decline (QTEC) (AAPL) (ORCL) (ALTR)

First Trust NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index Fund

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