Best and Worst ETFs Of The Week Amid Earnings Deluge

The earnings calendar was chocked full of surprises this week, as both positive and negative announcements were made from a wide array of large-cap stocks.  Companies such as Microsoft Corp (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), and Amazon Inc (AMZN) played a significant role in shaping the ups and downs in price action over the last several days. 

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) finished the month of January in the red after several pronounced price swings in both directions.  Long-term treasury bonds, on the other hand, were buoyed to new multi-year highs over fears of deflationary signals in both stocks and commodities. 

The following ETFs represent a sample of the best- and worst-performing funds over the last five trading sessions.

BEST: Fear and Safety Trades

On a down week in the markets, it’s no surprise to see VIX-related indexes such as theiPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (VXX) trading more than 10 percent higher. 

However, a more notable development is the continued flight to quality in treasury bonds that has pushed the 30-year bond yield down to a fresh record low of 2.226 percent.  A beneficiary of this collapse in yields has been the PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury Index ETF (ZROZ), which gained over 4 percent this week. 

ZROZ was the best performing bond fund of 2014 because of its focus on the highest duration U.S. treasury securities. 

WORST: Greek Stocks

Companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange endured a tumultuous week with the election of a new political party that sent equities reeling.  The Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (GREK) lost more than 18 percent of its value over the last 5 trading days.

GREK is heavily weighted towards the financial sector, with 37 percent of its holdings.  The economic woes of this troubled European nation have put many debt-ridden institutions under pressure this week.  This may lead to additional bailouts and further reforms from other sovereign nations such as Germany as they struggle to resurrect financial stability.