Best And Worst ETFs Of November

Looking back on the year thus far, there have been some clear cut winners, helping to fuel the bull market for equities; on the flip side there has been some losers who have struggled throughout 2014. The rotation of money from sector to sector has been rapid with the winners and losers changing on a monthly basis.

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Top Two ETFs

In November, the winds of change once again sent money into sectors that have lagged at times this year. While the top two sectors couldn’t be more different, they each experienced solid returns in November.

The iShares Dow Jones US Home Const. (ETF) ITB follows 38 U.S. companies that are in some manner involved with the construction of residential homes. The top two sectors represented in the ETF are home construction at 65 percent and materials and fixtures making up 20 percent.

The top individual holdings include:

• Lennar Corporation LEN at 11.1 percent
• D.R. Horton, Inc. DHI making up 11.1 percent
• PulteGroup, Inc. PHM coming in at 9.7 percent

Year-to-date, the ETF is up 2.8 percent, but increased in value by 7.8 percent in November. The ETF has an expense ratio of 0.43 percent.

The Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF SMH tracks 26 of the largest semiconductor companies across four countries. The U.S. dominates the ETF at 71 percent and Taiwan comes in at 16 percent.

The top individual holdings include:

• Intel Corporation INTC with a 20 percent holding
• Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (ADR) TSM making up 15.8 percent of the portfolio
• Texas Instruments Incorporated TXN at 5.3 percent

SMH is up 29 percent year to date and 8 percent during the month of November. The ETF has an expense ratio of 0.35 percent.

Bottom ETF

The fall in oil and other commodities took its tool on related ETFs. The worst performing sector ETF in November was the Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) XLE, which tracks 45 of the largest publicly traded companies in the energy sector.

The top individual holdings include:

• Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM at 16.5 percent
• Chevron Corporation CVX with a 13.5 percent holding
• Schlumberger Limited. SLB at 7.2 percent

The ETF is down 9 percent this year and lost 8.7 percent during November. The ETF has a low expense ratio of 0.16 percent.

The saving grace for the ETFs that are struggling this year is that historically December has been a strong month for equities. The U.S. stock market enters this year with a six-year winning streak for the month. The average gain in December over the last six years is over 2 percent.