The rally continued full steam ahead on Wall Street last week as upbeat earnings and encouraging data kept optimism levels elevated, giving investors few reasons to take profits off the table. Bellwethers like Halliburton, Google and IBM sailed right past analyst estimates, while tech darling Apple suffered a nasty sell-off after its latest earnings report suggested that growth has cooled off considerably [see Free 7 Simple & Cheap All- ETF Model Portfolios].
Actionable ETF Trade Ideas
Our picks from Monday’s Insider posted disappointing performance results relative to broad equity benchmarks as our timing was off. Below, we highlight how our trade ideas fared during the week [sign up for a free trial of ETFdb Pro to get actionable ETF ideas every Monday, as well as access to more than 50 all-ETF model portfolios].
| Last Week’s Actionable ETF Ideas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ticker | Position | Week Performance | |
| PCY | Long | -0.1% | |
| EWT | Long | -2.2% | |
| FXC | Long | -0.6% | |
Trade #1 Long PCY: Down 0.1%
This recommendation failed to take off higher as anticipated. PCY kicked off the week on a sideways note and continued to drift that way throughout the remainder of the week. Trading activity as a whole was fairly light in the bond market this week; PCY came close to triggering our stop-loss on Friday, although ultimately it held its ground and left us with a minimal loss.
Trade #2 Long EWT: Down 2.2%
This recommendation turned against us after EWT was unable to resume the steep uptrend we had hoped for. EWT traded sideways in the beginning of the week and slipped below the trend line on Thursday. This ETF continued to trade lower on Friday and triggered our stop-loss after it just barely dipped below $13.20 a share.
Trade #3 Long FXC: Down 0.6%
The Canadian dollar plummeted after the latest Canada central bank rate decision inspired heavy profit-taking in the currency market. FXC slipped underneath our outlined stop-loss at $99.50 a share on Tuesday as selling pressures were swift right from the opening bell. Although we ended up with a loss, our decision to cut our losses proved to be a good one as FXC continued to tank the following days, settling at $98.80 a share on Friday.
ETFdb Portfolios
Retirement ETFdb Portfolios
From a year-to-date performance perspective, our Cheapskate Portfolio is leading the way higher followed by the equity-heavy 30 Years Til Retirement Portfolio. Over the same time period the worst performing strategies have been the Low Volatility Portfolio and our bond-heavy Ready To Retire Portfolio.
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| ETFdb Portfolio | 1 Week | 4 Week | 13 Week | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Years Til Retirement Portfolio | 0.61% | 3.27% | 4.38% | 2.84% | 9.08% | 31.74% | n/a |
| 10 Years Til Retirement Portfolio | 0.54% | 3.49% | 5.54% | 2.94% | 11.19% | 35.34% | 24.66% |
| 20 Years Til Retirement Portfolio | 0.61% | 4.13% | 6.69% | 3.43% | 13.85% | 40.63% | 26.30% |
| 30 Years Til Retirement Portfolio | 0.68% | 4.68% | 7.84% | 3.83% | 14.02% | 43.15% | 26.31% |
| Aggressive Portfolio | 0.33% | 3.92% | 7.75% | 3.12% | 13.00% | n/a | n/a |
| Cheapskate Portfolio | 0.42% | 2.11% | 5.94% | 6.00% | 14.35% | n/a | n/a |
| Low Volatility Portfolio | -0.00% | 1.60% | 2.16% | 1.02% | 9.76% | n/a | n/a |
| Moderate Portfolio | 0.39% | 2.72% | 4.88% | 2.22% | 10.36% | 33.72% | n/a |
| Ready To Retire ETFdb Portfolio | 0.37% | 1.83% | 2.90% | 1.63% | 7.91% | 30.07% | 27.90% |
Regional ETFdb Portfolios
All but one of our regional strategies is in positive territory for the year; the Euro Free Europe Portfolio and LatAm Centric Portfolio are leading the way while the worst performer has been our Africa-Centric Portfolio.
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| ETFdb Portfolio | 1 Week | 4 Week | 13 Week | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa-Centric Portfolio | -1.05% | -1.29% | 0.20% | -2.82% | 8.97% | n/a | n/a |
| Asia-Centric ETFdb Portfolio | -0.42% | 2.67% | 6.66% | 1.63% | 10.58% | n/a | n/a |
| BRIC-or-Bust ETFdb Portfolio | -0.10% | 3.03% | 6.52% | 2.42% | 0.00% | n/a | n/a |
| Easy-As-ABC ETFdb Portfolio | -0.67% | 2.11% | 3.25% | 0.98% | 0.42% | n/a | n/a |
| Emerging & Frontier Markets ETFdb Portfolio | -0.38% | 2.09% | 5.96% | 1.15% | 11.76% | n/a | n/a |
| Euro Free Europe Portfolio | 0.81% | 3.97% | 8.92% | 3.05% | 13.68% | n/a | n/a |
| Ex-Europe ETFdb Portfolio | 0.35% | 2.71% | 4.50% | 2.22% | 9.76% | 31.01% | n/a |
| Ex-U.S. Portfolio | 0.09% | 2.45% | 7.74% | 1.61% | 14.66% | 22.36% | n/a |
| Global Titans ETFdb Portfolio | 0.40% | 2.34% | 7.06% | 2.22% | 14.35% | n/a | n/a |
| LatAm Centric ETFdb Portfolio | 0.09% | 3.28% | 5.36% | 2.62% | 5.45% | n/a | n/a |
Themed ETFdb Portfolios
Not surprisingly, bullish euphoria on Wall Street has propelled our Risk On Portfolio to the top of the list with close to double-digit gains YTD. Likewise, our ultra-defensive Sky Is Falling Portfolio is stuck in negative territory along with the GLD-Free Gold Bug Portfolio.
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| ETFdb Portfolio | 1 Week | 4 Week | 13 Week | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actively-Managed ETF Portfolio | 0.75% | 3.91% | 7.20% | 5.47% | 10.68% | n/a | n/a |
| 2012 ETFdb Portfolio | 0.00% | 4.80% | 4.77% | 3.93% | 15.49% | n/a | n/a |
| AlphaDEX ETFdb Portfolio | 0.66% | 4.10% | 7.84% | 3.13% | 11.61% | n/a | n/a |
| Alpha Seeker Portfolio 2.0 | 0.94% | 4.50% | 6.06% | 4.15% | 10.40% | 34.58% | n/a |
| Baby Boomers ETFdb Portfolio | 1.24% | 6.28% | 7.48% | 5.99% | 13.19% | n/a | n/a |
| Ben Graham 50/50 Portfolio | 0.11% | 1.81% | 4.71% | 2.74% | 11.85% | n/a | n/a |
| Better-Than-AGG Total Bond Market ETFdb Portfolio | -0.02% | -0.04% | 0.78% | 0.03% | 5.82% | n/a | n/a |
| Black Swan Hyperinflation Portfolio | 0.08% | 2.38% | 1.25% | 1.64% | -1.44% | 21.41% | n/a |
| Commodity Guru ETFdb Portfolio | 0.34% | 3.26% | 5.60% | 2.63% | 6.61% | n/a | n/a |
| Cheapskate Hedge Fund ETFdb Portfolio | 0.29% | 0.47% | 1.10% | 0.43% | -1.55% | n/a | n/a |
| Energy Bull ETFdb Portfolio | 0.71% | 5.35% | 4.88% | 4.34% | 1.14% | n/a | n/a |
| Equal Weight ETFdb Portfolio | 0.32% | 2.92% | 6.06% | 2.83% | 9.46% | n/a | n/a |
| Financials Free ETFdb Portfolio | 0.14% | 2.50% | 4.37% | 2.17% | 10.20% | 35.15% | 22.61% |
| Futures Free Commodity ETFdb Portfolio | -0.20% | 3.03% | 3.84% | 2.06% | -0.51% | n/a | n/a |
| GLD-Free Gold Bug ETFdb Portfolio | -2.31% | -0.18% | -7.05% | -1.50% | -11.30% | n/a | n/a |
| Greedy When Others Are Fearful ETFdb Portfolio | 0.48% | 2.93% | 5.46% | 4.97% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| High-Tax Bracket ETF Portfolio | 0.50% | 3.54% | 5.95% | 2.96% | 9.84% | 29.44% | n/a |
| High Tech ETFdb Portfolio | 2.17% | 6.04% | 9.60% | 4.90% | 9.86% | n/a | n/a |
| High Yield ETFdb Portfolio | 0.51% | 3.10% | 5.61% | 2.71% | 14.00% | 44.13% | 32.78% |
| King Dollar ETFdb Portfolio | 0.18% | 2.28% | 3.93% | 1.89% | 8.86% | n/a | n/a |
| Kitchen Sink ETFdb Portfolio | 0.30% | 2.61% | 4.28% | 2.09% | 10.61% | n/a | n/a |
| Monthly Dividend ETFdb Portfolio | 0.46% | 3.55% | 3.59% | 3.08% | 10.91% | n/a | n/a |
| Pure Growth ETFdb Portfolio | 0.28% | 3.51% | 7.10% | 2.73% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Pure Value ETFdb Portfolio | 0.97% | 5.24% | 9.52% | 4.28% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| RAFI ETFdb Portfolio | 0.64% | 5.01% | 10.04% | 4.04% | 12.83% | 30.95% | 23.67% |
| Simple (But Effective) Safe Haven ETFdb Portfolio | 0.27% | 2.51% | 2.13% | 2.09% | 8.08% | 36.69% | 34.04% |
| Small Cap ETFdb Portfolio | 0.33% | 3.92% | 6.52% | 2.84% | 13.95% | n/a | n/a |
| The Sky Is Falling Portfolio | -0.84% | -1.86% | -1.87% | -1.59% | -3.43% | 14.60% | n/a |
| Socially Responsible ETFdb Portfolio | 0.67% | 3.20% | 5.28% | 2.90% | 10.34% | n/a | n/a |
| Risk On ETFdb Portfolio | 1.15% | 6.51% | 11.21% | 8.61% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Consumer Centric ETFdb Portfolio | 0.32% | 3.49% | 7.04% | 3.16% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Agri-Bull ETFdb Portfolio | 0.37% | 2.50% | 3.35% | 2.21% | 6.57% | n/a | n/a |
| 8% Yield ETFdb Portfolio | 0.40% | 3.99% | 5.77% | 3.38% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Mining Boom ETFdb Portfolio | -1.53% | 0.70% | 1.66% | -0.53% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 2013 ETFdb Portfolio | 0.52% | 5.14% | 9.23% | 4.22% | 21.02% | n/a | n/a |
Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.
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