Facebook Could Find More ETF Residences

The slide in shares of Facebook FB since the social media firm's May IPO has irked plenty of folks. From investors to California tax collectors, Facebook's slide has been a depressing (and unfortunately) ongoing episode. The stock's dismal performance has also hampered its ability to find a home in more ETFs. For example, Nasdaq OMX Group NDAQ changed some of its rules governing new additions to the prestigious Nasdaq 100 Index prior to Facebook's IPO. In theory, that should have given Facebook an opportunity to slide into the index when it rebalances this month, Index Universe reported. Facebook's struggles mean it will not be heading into the Nasdaq 100 or the PowerShares QQQ QQQ, the Nasdaq 100 tracking ETF, at the next rebalance. There is some good news for Facebook, though. Nasdaq OMX announced Monday that the stock will join eight others, including another beaten down social media name, Groupon GRPN, in joining the NASDAQ Q-50 Index. The NASDAQ Q-50 Index is not linked to any ETFs, but it is sort of a "minor league" for the Nasdaq 100 because the former is home to the stocks next in line to be added to the latter. Interestingly, one of the stocks being removed from the NASDAQ Q-50 Index is Sina SINA, a social media firm commonly referred to as China's answer to Twitter. With a weight of 7.1 percent, Sina is the third-largest holding in the Global X Social Media Index ETF SOCL. SOCL is also the only ETF with any noteworthy exposure to Facebook to this point with an allocation of 5.7 percent to Mark Zuckerberg's company. Index Universe notes Facebook could join the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund FDN as soon as Friday when that ETF rebalances. The $481.7 million FDN is home to 41 stocks with Google GOOG and Amazon AMZN combing for almost 19 percent of the fund's weight. FDN's primary rival, the PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio PNQI, could also become another ETF destination for Facebook. That fund also rebalances quarterly. Beyond SOCL, Facebook currently has a presence in other ETFs, but the footprint is light. The stock accounts for 0.43 percent of the Shares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Sector Index Fund IYW and 0.13 percent of the iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index Fund IWF as two examples. For more on Facebook and ETFs, click here.