Best And Worst ETFs Of The Week Amid New U.S. Dollar Highs

The market lost ground once again this week as the first day of October proved to be perilous for stocks. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY fell 1.36 percent on the first day of the new quarter, but made up some of those losses on Friday as a better-than-expected jobs report reinvigorated traders.

The big story of the week was the continued strength in the U.S. dollar index, which has pushed to new year-to-date highs amid foreign currency weakness. The PowerShares U.S. Dollar Bullish Index UUP has now gained more than 7 percent this year amid one of the strongest rises in nearly a decade.

The following ETFs represent a sample of the best- and worst-performing funds over the last five trading sessions.

Related Link: Third Quarter ETF Fund Flows Show Broad Market Buying

BEST: Coffee Prices

The price of coffee has skyrocketed recently as concerns over drought conditions in Brazil crept into the commodity markets. The output from Brazil has already been reduced this year leading to speculation that global supplies will dwindle.

The iPath Dow Jones-UBS Coffee Subindex Total Return ETN JO jumped nearly 12 percent this week and has gained more than 80 percent in 2014. JO tracks an unleveraged basket of coffee futures contracts and currently has $99 million in total assets.

The strength of this ETN shows how volatile commodity prices can be in relation to supply and demand concerns caused by weather or other factors.

WORST: Uranium Stocks

On the flip side, Uranium stocks fell to new multi-year lows this week and have yet to show signs of arresting their downtrend. The Global X Uranium ETF URA tracks a basket of 23 companies engaged in the exploration, refinement, and manufacturing of uranium or related equipment.

URA lost 7 percent over the last five trading sessions and is now down more than 19 percent in 2014. Despite those losses, ETF investors have actually poured more than $150 million into URA this year in an effort to capitalize on a turnaround in this space.

Only time will tell if this niche industry group can buck its recent downtrend and rebound in a convincing manner.