3 Commodities ETFs You Used To Like, But Can't Like Now, But Might Be Able To Like Again Later

Things are not well these days across myriad corners of the market. Excluding gold and silver, the same can be said of many commodities and their corresponding ETFs and ETNs. That's led to troublesome declines in ETFs and ETNs that were previously darlings and not just commodities darlings, but in at least one case, a now former broader market superstar. In another case, we have a stealth loser, one whose declines have kind of flown under the radar. In all cases, we have three exchange traded products that you used to love, cannot love right in this moment, but just might be able to warm to again in the medium-term. Let's have a look at this heart-wrenching trio. 1) ETFS Physical Palladium Shares PALL: PALL topped out just below $85 in February and fell well short of that level at its March peak. Its April high is below both the the February and March highs. In other words, we have a series of lower highs. If PALL breaks $71, a decline to $65 could be in the offing. The Problem: China's car market is slowing. The Solution: Maybe, just maybe, the U.S. economy can rebound enough to spur new car sales and prop up palladium demand and prices. 2) iPath DJ-UBS Cotton TR Sub-Index ETN BAL: BAL more than tripled from August 2010 through March, perhaps leaving it more vulnerable to a big decline than any other commodities-related ETF or ETN. The Problem(s): Goldman Sachs said take profits in cotton last week. Farmers are planting more cotton to take advantage of higher prices. The Solution(s): Bad weather in cotton-producing regions and some hot hedge fund money into the futures market ought to right this ship, but those are two big "X" factors. 3) Materials Select Sector SPDR XLB: We wanted to include one equity-based ETF on the list and XLB, our stealth decliner, fits the bill. XLB has been suffering as investors have started to cash in higher-beta fare for more conservative stocks and ETFs. The Problem(s): China's inflation-fighting efforts and weak earnings reports. The Solution: Well, DuPont DD, Freeport-McMoRan FCX and Nucor NUE all report earnings this week, but by the looks of things thus far in earnings season, stocks aren't getting much help. XLB's return to bullish ways may be a bit further off than some would like to admit.