Market ETF's are off to a great start this week after getting absolutely pummeled early last week. The popular S&P 500 ETF (SPY ) starts the week up 2.5%, continuing on the excitement we saw on Friday. The media is already talking of the possibilities of a positive month for the Index. With only 1.12% left to go this could be the first positive month since October. The Nasdaq 100 has also participated in the pop but is lagging the rest of the markets. The Power Shares (QQQ ) is up almost 4% for the week, but for it to participate in a positive month it would need to almost duplicate that... there's still time.Elsewhere the news is all bonds. Recently investors have been using bonds in what the media calls "flight to quality" to avoid risk. Well that trade has come to an end, at least in the short term, as investors regain confidence. The iShares 20+ year bond ETF (TLT ) has come off its high, falling over 3%. Its a minor pullback though as it has gained over 10% just this year.
One of the better performing ETF's in this holiday shortened week has been the iShares biotech ETF (IBB ). Investors are supporting the $240 number with massive buying as evidenced by the above average volume and the 8% pop off that area. Just the first day of trading this week accounts for over half of those gains as the IBB popped 4.37% Tuesday.
Finishing with more positive ETF news, traders noticed the popular retail ETF (XRT ) Tuesday as it soared almost 6%. The retail space has been hit hard this year as the XRT has fallen over 15%. Tuesdays pop goes a long way towards convincing investors to come back though. The 6% gain on Tuesday now makes retail one of the sectors that are positive for the month (1.82%)
The moral of today's article is that there are many good things happening between Friday and this week. Unfortunately these gains are all overshadowed by the massive losses across the board. This will be an important week to regain bullish confidence. A strong finish could turn the tides in favor of the bulls in the short term.
