It’s All About the 200-Day

In last Friday’s Weekly ETF Report, we told you that the S&P 500 Index had just breached the all-important 200-day moving average. That is usually a very bullish pivot point for stocks, and that’s exactly what we witnessed this week.

The chart here of the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY), the ETF pegged to the benchmark index, shows the gains of late. As you can see, the markets have come back fast and furiously from their mid-February lows, vaulting past the 50-day moving average in late January, and then the 200-day moving average last week.

Amazingly, the S&P 500 now is back into positive territory for the year. After the start we had to 2016, that is a feat of resilience that not many would have predicted.

As for emerging markets, well, that’s also an amazing feat of resilience. The chart below of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM) shows that it, too, has just breached its 200-day moving average.

The run since late February in EEM has been an even bigger surprise than the run higher in SPY. One reason why is that emerging market stocks are on the move due to a falling U.S. dollar, something the Federal Reserve is successfully engineering.

Wednesday’s Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting showing that the Fed expects rates will rise at most two times this year was a big adjustment from the prior view that rates would rise four times. The “dovish” Fed stance shows the market that the Fed has its back, and hence the decline in the dollar and the gains in both domestic and emerging market equities.

Now, this week, the gains in domestic stocks have brought about a change in disposition in our Successful ETF Investing advisory service.

In fact, in a few hours we will be telling subscribers what that change is, and how to take advantage of it whether you are a growth investor or an income investor.

If you’d like to get on board and ride the change in market disposition based on the 200-day average, then I invite you to subscribe to Successful ETF Investing right now!

ETF Talk: Introducing an ETF ‘Family’

For this week’s ETF Talk, I’m going to break from tradition somewhat by not discussing an individual exchange-traded fund (ETF). Instead, I’m going to highlight about 10 different ETFs.

Before your eyes widen in shock and you wonder how long this column will be, let me explain by saying that these 10 ETFs are actually all parts of one big ETF “family” under the banner of WBI Investments.

Based in Red Bank, New Jersey, WBI Investments is a privately owned investment management firm that has been around since 1992 and specializes in risk management and capital preservation. In 2014, its partner WBI Shares rocked the exchange-traded fund industry when it launched no less than 10 ETFs simultaneously and obtained more than $1 billion in assets under management in just the first day of trading. WBI Shares is now one of the biggest providers of active ETFs.

All of the WBI ETFs are actively managed funds and seek to provide consistent returns to investors while also striving to enforce WBI’s emphasis on reducing risk and preserving capital. Unlike many of the ETFs I write about, these funds do not seek to replicate or track any kind of index; all holdings are chosen by an investment manager.

With that backdrop, here’s a brief description of the ETFs of WBI Shares:

1. WBI SMID Tactical Growth Shares (WBIA): invests in small- and mid-cap growth stocks worldwide

1. WBI SMID Tactical Value Shares (WBIB): invests in small- and mid-cap value stocks worldwide

1. WBI SMID Tactical Value Yield (WBIC): invests in small- and mid-cap stocks with high dividends worldwide

1. WBI SMID Tactical Select Shares (WBID): invests in small- and mid-cap tactical securities worldwide

1. WBI Large Cap Tactical Growth Shares (WBIE): invests in large-cap growth stocks worldwide

1. WBI Large Cap Tactical Value Shares (WBIF): invests in tactical large-cap stocks worldwide

1. WBI Large Cap Tactical Yield Shares (WBIG): invests in large-cap tactical yield securities worldwide

1. WBI Tactical High Income Shares (WBIH): invests in foreign and domestic debt and equity securities

1. WBI Tactical Income Shares (WBII): invests in foreign and domestic debt and equity securities

1. WBI Large Cap Tactical Select Shares (WBIL): invests in large-cap tactical securities worldwide

You can view the current price, volume, performance and top 10 holdings for all of the WBI ETFs at ETFU.com.

If you’re looking for standout among the funds offered by WBI Shares, check out WBI Tactical Income Shares (WBII). After the last six months of turbulence and uncertainty, WBII is down less than 4% from its June 2015 highs and it is starting to rise again, whereas most of the other WBI funds are still trying to recover from more significant losses.

According to WBI Shares, WBII is the top-ranked fund in the Morningstar Conservative Allocation category. It has a 1.4% dividend yield with around $325 million in assets under management. Top holdings include the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond at 11.97% of assets; Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF, 7.81%; and iShares 10+ Year Credit Bond, holding 5% of assets.

If you like the idea of joining an ETF “family” or at least exploring a possible investment in its funds, I’d recommend doing some further research in the WBI Shares ETFs.

If you want my advice about buying and selling specific ETFs, including appropriate stop losses, please consider subscribing to my Successful ETF Investing newsletter.

As always, I am happy to answer any of your questions about ETFs, so do not hesitate to send me an e-mail. You just may see your question answered in a future ETF Talk.

Rollins on Scar Tissue

“Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on.”

–Henry Rollins

Musician, writer, actor and spoken word performer Henry Rollins is a polymath of the most intense variety. Here, he reminds us that “scar tissue” is really just strength of experience and life’s lessons learned. So, the next time you lament one of life’s mishaps or disappointments, remember that this kind of scar tissue is to be respected, as it made you who you are.

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my audio podcast, newsletters, seminars or anything else. Ask Doug.

I encourage you to read my column from last week about emerging from the threat of a bear market. I also invite you to comment about my column in the space provided below my Eagle Daily Investor commentary.