Latest news with #ETFEdge
CNBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
From robotaxis to rockets: Morningstar rated these two ETFs as top performers. How they're positioning right now
He helped clinch the top two spots on Morningstar's best performing ETFs last quarter, and now Ark Invest's Brett Winton is looking to do it again with extensive exposure to Big Tech and aerospace. Winton helps set strategy for the No. 1 ranked Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) and runner-up Ark Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX). "We are in the earliest stages of a massive technological transformation here," the firm's chief futurist told CNBC's "ETF Edge" this week. "There's going to be bumps along the road, but we think the right thing to do is to lean into innovation over the long term." The Ark Innovation ETF gained 48% last quarter. As of Tuesday's close, it's up 275% since its October 2014 launch. The firm's website describes the ETF as an actively managed fund that looks for cutting-edge advancements that have "real-world, practical implications for people." He cited Tesla's June launch of its robotaxi program in Austin, Texas as an example. "People didn't think they were going to be able to do it, and the assets are on the ground and operating," Winton said. "We think that's going to be an incredibly valuable network." The electric vehicle maker is the Ark Innovation ETF top holding, followed by Coinbase, Roku and Roblox, according to the firm's website on Tuesday. Winton is particularly bullish on infrastructure for artificial intelligence. "I think we're in the first pitch... We're still in warmups. We're still singing the national anthem here. The investment in AI data centers is going to explode," Winton said. "They're going to build data centers that are 10x the size of the current largest data centers, and that's going to yield a performance advance in AI that's mind-blowing even relative to what's available today." Morningstar's second best-performing ETF of the second quarter is the Ark Space Exploration & Innovation ETF, which gained 36% last quarter and is up 26% since its March 2021 launch. The space-themed fund's top holdings as of June 30 are Kratos, Rocket Lab, Iridium Communications, AeroVironment and Archer Aviation, according to Ark Invest. "ARKX [Ark Space Exploration & Innovation ETF] … performed very well because people are beginning to realize you need to invest in these technologies and capabilities in order to compete in the world," Winton said. Ark Invest is also placing bets on fintech stocks. Winton said there's "no question" that developments like cryptocurrency and digital wallets will reshape the financial landscape. He also helps build strategy for the Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), which is up 45% so far this year. Its top holdings are Shopify, Robinhood and Coinbase Global. "I anticipate that you'll see a number of traditional financial institutions finally bend the knee and say, 'Hey, we need to adopt some of these technologies,' because it's no longer adequate or sufficient to offer consumers their money three to five days later when they want to transfer it from place to place," Winton said.
CNBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
During earnings season, two ETFs may signal how bullish investors feel about U.S. economy and consumer
Concerns about the consumer are still running high on Wall Street, even after the market's big comeback to a new record from the tariff-triggered downturn of April. While the worst fears about Trump's trade policies and inflation have not come to pass, Goldman Sachs is among Wall Street firms expecting a growth slowdown and a more cautious consumer ahead. As earnings season picks up, one simple market gauge on how bullish or bearish investors are on the consumer can be found in the performance of consumer discretionary and consumer staples ETFs. As Todd Sohn, senior ETF and technical analyst at Strategas Asset Management explained it on a recent CNBC "ETF Edge" podcast, "If discretionary is outperforming, that means auto, retails, homebuilders, are working against toothpaste and toilet paper. Adversely, if the staples are outperforming, that means the market does not like the earnings and would suggest a more defensive tone," said. Into earnings season, consumer discretionary ETFs have outperformed consumer staples. Over the past month, top consumer discretionary ETFs have outperformed consumer staples funds, such as the First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD ) and Fidelity MSCI Consumer Discretionary Index ETF (FDIS ). Looking at the oldest and broadest consumer funds in the ETF space, within the Select Sector SPDR family that tracks all of the major sectors within the S&P 500 on a stand-alone basis, there's been a reversal in performance of late. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP ) is up 4% this year but only 1% in the past month. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY ), meanwhile, is up over 5% during the past month while trailing staples year-to-date. The recent outperformance of discretionary continued through the first week of earnings season. Some of the top consumer staples ETFs in recent trading, meanwhile, have been narrower in focus, such Invesco's small-cap consumer staples ETF (PSCC ) and the Invesco's equal-weighted S&P 500 consumer staples portfolio (RSPS ) which stands out from the market-weighted XLP.
CNBC
16-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Why defensive names and bitcoin could be solid plays over the next six months
It may be a strategic time to pivot away from this year's Big Tech winners. Bob Elliott, who runs Unlimited Funds, suggests building portfolios designed to withstand a slowing economy over the next six months should be a priority. "You're talking about positions long bonds, long gold and short the U.S. dollar," the firm's CEO and chief investment officer told "ETF Edge" this week. "That's a very non-consensus view that is also favored by some of the smartest financial minds in the world [and] in the hedge fund community." Elliott's firm Unlimited Funds uses proprietary technology to create accessible alternative investment strategies, including four Unlimited ETFs. According to Elliott, stock and bond market investors are pricing in a near-perfect scenario over the short and medium term. He thinks President Donald Trump's tariffs and an inflation acceleration could expose market vulnerabilities. "Being able to flexibly respond to the policy environment as it evolves... is really important in terms of building a portfolio and getting away from the long-only mega cap tech stock mindset and get to something that's flexible that can navigate through this sort of environment," said Elliott. Meanwhile, Strategas Securities' Todd Sohn thinks underperformers have potential for upside as earnings season gets underway. "The bar is so low for some of these defensive companies," the firm's technical strategist said in the same interview – noting it's "basement bottom pickings." Sohn's contrarian ideas include health care. "There's been a mass exodus of outflows from health care sector ETFs," he said. "Folks are scared of the administration. I get that, but I wonder if you can start to nibble in certain areas." Sohn also finds bitcoin an attractive play right now. The House of Representatives is looking at a series of bills tied to cryptocurrencies this week. "We're about three months off the S&P 500 low back on April 8. The leading category, I like to dig a little level deeper here, has been crypto. Investors are just latching on to this move in crypto," he said. "I think investors are realizing it's an asset that's here to stay." After hitting an all-time high on Monday, bitcoin fell and was below $117,000 as of Tuesday evening.
CNBC
09-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Vanguard, BlackRock deliver second-half market plays that could cushion a potential growth slowdown
Investors may want to consider bracing for a weaker stock market performance over the next six months. According to Vanguard's Roger Hallam, it's prudent for long-term investors to have sufficient exposure to fixed income in this environment. "Our outlook for the second half of this year is that growth will slow," the firm's global head of rates told CNBC's "ETF Edge" on Monday. Hallam predicts the labor market will continue to gradually cool while inflation rises. Hallam expects the Federal Reserve will ultimately prioritize jobs and cut interest rates toward the end of this year to provide insurance. "We think that will provide a tailwind for bonds," he said. "So, we're confident in the outlook for fixed income, and we think... clients should be allocating to fixed income." Vanguard is behind three U.S. government bond exchange-traded funds debuting this week. The launch includes the Vanguard Government Securities Active ETF (VGVT). The firm's prospectus shows U.S. Treasurys hold the largest exposure in the new ETF. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield started 2025 at about 4.57% and has since fallen to roughly 4.4% as of Tuesday. Meanwhile, BlackRock's Jay Jacobs sees a barbell approach as a valuable second-half strategy as a hedge against economic slowdown risks. "I think we're still going to see a lot of money that's been in cash for a long time … start to inch their way back into the equity markets," the firm's U.S. head of equity ETFs said in the same interview. He expects buffer ETFs, which are designed to protect against the downside and still give a measure of upside performance, to benefit from the risk backdrop. BlackRock offers six buffer ETFs, according to the firm's website, including iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Jun ETF (MAXJ). The fund is up 5% so far this year and tracks the share price return of the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. "Our fund MAXJ recently reset, giving a cap of up to 7% exposure to the S&P over the next year. A tool like that is going to be very much in vogue for investors looking to get back into the markets," Jacobs said, adding investors will likely play offense and will continue to migrate toward strong macro themes such as artificial intelligence. Jacobs also lists infrastructure as a key group. "As we continue to see geopolitics and fragmentation around the world impact markets, I think people are going to be looking at really powerful macro trends like the growth of infrastructure in the United States as a way to place their bets in the equity markets," Jacobs said.
CNBC
07-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Is bitcoin price stalling at $100,000? ETF experts debate next crypto trades
After topping $111,000 in May, bitcoin has not been able to break out significantly above the $100,000 range. Some investors may simply be cashing in their chips, according to Tom Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, with investors who bought into the coin during much earlier stages of its history now sitting on huge gains. "We have clients that have bought bitcoin at $100," Lee said on a recent edition of CNBC's "ETF Edge." "They don't care if bitcoin goes to a million; they are probably sellers at around $100,000," he said. Even if bitcoin is running into resistance at the $100,000-$110,000 level, other bets in the crypto market have taken off, including the digital assets infrastructure providers, such as Coinbase, which rose by 40% in June, its best month since last November. It was also the only stock in the S&P 500 to double in the second quarter, on top of finishing the quarter with its first three-month rally since 2023. Among the reasons for the boost in the crypto exchange shares, even as the price of bitcoin has stalled: the passage of the Genius Act by the Senate, the success of the Circle IPO, and the recent surge in bullishness about stablecoins. With other cryptocurrencies that have stalled in trading this year, such as ether and solana, investors who have no plans to sell crypto holdings can still put them to work via staking, and it may be a good option during a period when the price isn't gaining in the short-term. Staking allows investors to not only participate in the growth of a coin's value but also be paid for its use within the decentralized financial (DeFi) system that allows people, businesses, or other entities to transact directly with each other. "You can actually generate significant yields," said Dave Nadig, an independent ETF expert and futurist, on "ETF Edge." He added that the income generated from staking is often "a few points above" what an investor might gain from a more typical fixed-income instrument. In some ways, it is a crypto version of a high-interest savings account, but with one key difference being it is not handled by banking institutions but the crypto exchanges and networks, and this has led to issues with regulators in recent history. When you stake crypto, you contribute to the running and security of decentralized networks like ethereum and become a "validator" on the blockchain. Big players in the financial markets, such as BlackRock, do believe in opportunity for staking to grow this year. Robinhood's Johann Kerbrat, general manager of the brokerage company's crypto division, recently spoke to CNBC about its ethereum and solana staking push. "When we talk about mass adoption, this is what it looks like," Kerbrat said of staking and other recent additions to its crypto services. Other investors may be trading in their direct holdings in crypto for ETFs that now offer the same crypto market exposure. "Let's be honest, it's a whole lot easier to transact. It's a lot cheaper as well," said Nadig. Buying the cheapest ETF right now is cheaper than direct cash-to-coin transactions, with some ETF providers waiving all management fees to stoke more early adoption of their recent crypto portfolio editions. For example, VanEck's Bitcoin Trust (HODL) has waived all fees until it reaches $2.5 billion in assets, through January 10, 2026. "Effectively, bitcoin moved from one wallet to another wallet, the wallet now being ETF," Nadig said. The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) have seen the most action this year overall, with over $15 billion and $2 billion, respectively, of net inflows to the crypto ETFs, as financial advisor and retail investor adoption grows. The company has been waiving a portion of the management fee on the ethereum ETF for up to $2.5 billion in assets, with the 0.25% expense ratio knocked down to 0.12%. Meanwhile, Van Eck has also waived fees on its Van Eck Ethereum ETF (ETHV) until it reached $1.5 billion in assets through July 22 of this year. Disclaimer
