ETFs That Avoided Thursday's Sell-Off (DFE, SKYY, SPFF, EWP)

At midday, all three major U.S. stock indices were lower by at least one percent.

The combination of subpar earnings, weak economic numbers, and negative news from China were all lending to the big selling. Other than the precious metal stocks, there was not one major sector in the green for the day. In other words it was difficult to find ETFs that were not trading lower.

Difficult, but not impossible.

Today’s Winners

The WisdomTree Europe Small Cap Dividend ETF DFE was slightly higher after being up as much as one percent in early trading. The diverse small cap ETF has its most exposure to the U.K., Sweden, and Italy.

With a better than expected Eurozone manufacturing number this morning, it has helped the stocks across the pond out perform. The early morning rally in the ETF has it within a few pennies of a new six-year high. Over the last twelve months the ETF is up 39 percent.

See also: What Spooked The Market?

The First Trust ISE Cloud Computing ETF SKYY was also trading with a small gain at midday as it was able to distance itself from the market wide selling in technology stocks. A big move in one of the ETFs top five holdings was the catalyst for the relative strength today. F5 Networks FFIV was up over 10 percent at one point in the early morning trading, hitting a new 52-week high.

The Global X SuperIncome Preferred ETF SPFF was up a couple pennies on the day. The ETF is built for investors that are seeking income as the daily movements are minimal. A portfolio of 50 of the highest yielding preferred stocks in the U.S. and Canada make up the ETF that currently yield 7.0 percent.

The ETF is at the same level it was seven months ago and in essence if the ETF continues to move sideways it will generate a 7 percent return annually in dividend payments. SPFF is the type of investment that works well as a hedge against market sell-offs and lowers overall risk of a portfolio.

The top performing single-country ETF today is the iShares MSCI Spain ETF EWP. The country reported its second straight quarter of GDP growth with a gain of 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter. While Spain is officially out of recession, the country is still dealing with an unemployment rate of 26 percent. But the good news out of the Eurozone and the GDP were enough to attract buyers on a bearish day for the global stock markets. The chart for EWP is bullish and if it continues to hold support at $39, the short-term uptrend remains intact.