ETFs Market Forecasts

PowerShares S&P SmallCap Health Care (NYSE: PSCH) is up nearly 22% year to date. The investment seeks to replicate the S&P SmallCap 600 Capped Health Care index, which is comprised of common stocks of U.S. health care companies. Top holdings include Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN), Amerigroup (NYSE: AGP) and Cooper Companies (NYSE: COO). SPDR S&P Biotech (NYSE: XBI) is up more than 19% since the beginning of the year. The underlying index represents the biotechnology subindustry portion of the S&P Total Market index. Top holdings include Theravance (NASDAQ: THRX) and Savient Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SVNT). PowerShares Dynamic Healthcare (NYSE: PTH) is up nearly 19% year to date. The underlying index consists of U.S. companies engaged in providing health care-related products and services, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical technology, supplies and facilities. Top holdings include Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB), Humana (NYSE: HUM) and St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ). First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX (NYSE: FXH) is up more than 18% year to date. The investment seeks...

Bull Market or Blow Off Top for Stocks and ETFs? Recent stock market action has been remarkable, to say the least, confounding bulls and bears alike.  The former say it’s a new leg higher while the latter say the end of the world is nigh. Can the stock market and ETFs go higher or is this a blow off top like so many others that have preceded significant declines? Our view is that both the fundamental and technical picture point to significant downside risk for investors ahead. On My Wall Street Radar Below are two charts of the S&P 500 (SPY) with varying views and time frames.    Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com The above chart is a year to date view comparing three strong advances that were followed by significant downturns and you can also see how the 50 Day Moving Average has curled over from its previous upward trend. Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com This chart goes back to the March, 2009, lows and shows the uptrend that was just...

Here is the ETF Professor's ETF Watch List for Tuesday June 21, 2011. Watch for some follow through on the Market Vectors Rare Earths/Strategic Metals ETF (NYSE: REMX). Three days of gains could mean stocks are ready for a pullback so keep an eye on the ProShares UltraShort S&P500 (NYSE: SDS). The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSE: XRT) got a nice bounce on Monday. Trade energy equities with the ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas (NYSE: DUG). Emerging markets plays of the day: Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE: VWO), Direxion Daily Latin America Bear 3X Shares (NYSE: LHB) and SPRD S&P Emerging Europe ETF (NYSE: GUR). Forex play of the day: CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust (NYSE: FXF).

This will certainly be a wild week for ETF investors as the Greek drama continues to unfold and a series of economic reports come in during the week. At Wall Street Sector Selector we continue to feel comfortable with our inverse ETF and put option positions. Our portfolios generally were flat to slightly higher with the Option Master being the best performer (and the highest risk) with unrealized gains so far of +22.7%, +6.6% and +9.5% in our three positions that all were initiated on June 7, 2011. On My Wall Street Radar chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com In the chart above, we can see how the S&P 500 (SPY) managed to stay above the all important 200 Day Moving Average and remains relatively oversold with RSI in the mid 30s and still well below its 50 Day Moving Average, while MACD continues to indicate negative momentum. A short term bounce here wouldn’t be a surprise, however, Friday’s action was relatively weak into the close and significant...