ETF Outlook for the week of February 17, 2014 (QCLN, RTH, GDX, PNQI)

ETF Outlook for the week of February 17, 2014

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy ETF QCLN

The ETFs largest holding and the brainchild of entrepreneur Elon Musk, Tesla Motors TSLA, reports earnings this week. The stock fell hard after its last earnings report, but has been able to rebound and hit a new all-time high this past week. With the stock marking up 11.2 percent of the ETF, the movement of QCLN is highly dependent on how TSLA will react to earnings this week. QCLN is just over 1 percent away from breaking out to a multi-year high and TSLA earnings could be the catalyst to do just that.

Market Vectors Retail ETF RTH

Wal-Mart WMT, the country’s largest retailer and employer is set to report quarterly earnings this week. The stock is a major holding in several ETFs, including RTH. The retail specific ETF calls WMT its largest holding with an allocation of 8.6 percent. Amazon.com AMZN is just behind, making up 8.5 percent of the portfolio. RTH had a rough start to the year, falling 6.4 percent in January. So far in February the ETF is up 2.6 percent, but has yet to regain its 50-day moving average. The rally has been on lower volume after heavy volume selling, which is typically not a positive signal. WMT could either end the rebound off the multi-month low or help propel RTH back to the pre-January high.

Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX

Another stellar week for the gold miners as GDX gained 10.2 percent and closed at the best level since late October. The ETF typically will move based on the price of gold, but earnings also play a role for the individual miners in the portfolio. One of most popular and largest gold miners, Newmont Mining NEM reports earnings this week and could have an affect on the entire sector. The stock is the third largest holding of GDX and makes up 7 percent of the portfolio. The next level to watch on GDX is $26.91, the high of October, which will act as important resistance. A failure to breakout early in the week could lead to some overbought profit-taking.

PowerShares NASDAQ Internet ETF PNQI

The technology-heave NASDAQ Composite closed out last week at the best level in over 13 years led by the Internet stocks. PNQI is a basket of 79 Internet growth stocks with the majority in the large-cap asset class. The ETF hit a new all-time high this week led by big games in its largest holding Facebook FB. The remaining top holdings are the who’s who in the Internet world. This week should be a good gauge for the sector to see if the rally can continue with the amount of earnings and economic reports on the light side.