Ten ETFs Trading Near 52-Week Highs

The following exchange traded funds ended the week in the neighborhood of their 52-week highs, though many of them have faced headwinds lately. The share price of each is more than 15% higher than at the beginning of the year as well. iPath US Treasury 10-year Bull ETN DTYL is up more than 43% year to date but has faced resistance at $66 per share since early November. The investment seeks to replicate the performance of the Barclays Capital 10Y U.S. Treasury Futures Targeted Exposure index, which is designed to increase in response to a decrease in 10-year Treasury note yields and to decrease in response to an increase in 10-year Treasury note yields. iPath US Treasury Long Bond Bull ETN DLBL is about 34% higher year to date but has pulled back nearly 5% from the 52-week high. The investment seeks to replicate the performance of the Barclays Capital Long Bond U.S. Treasury Futures Targeted Exposure index. The index is designed to increase in response to a decrease in long-dated Treasury bond yields and to decrease in response to an increase in long-dated Treasury bond yields. Vanguard Long-Term Government Bond Index ETF VGLT is up more than 25% since the beginning of the year and also has pulled back nearly 5% from the 52-week high. The fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. Long Government Float Adjusted Index, which includes fixed income securities issued by the U.S. Treasury and dollar-denominated foreign debt guaranteed by the U.S. government. ProShares Ultra Utilities UPW is up about 25% since the beginning of the year, after rebounding from a pullback in late November. The investment seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index. Top holdings include Dominion Resources D, Southern Company SO and Exelon EXC. PIMCO 15+ Year US TIPS Index ETF LTPZ is almost 23% higher year to date after pulling back about 2% in the past week. The investment seeks to provide a total return that closely corresponds to the total return of the BofA Merrill Lynch 15+ Year U.S. Inflation-Linked Treasury Index, which is an unmanaged index comprised of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities with a maturity of at least 15 years. iPath US Treasury Flattener ETN FLAT is up more than 22% since the beginning of the year and like many others on this list has faced headwinds in recent weeks. The underlying index employs a strategy that seeks to capture returns that are potentially available from a “steepening” or “flattening,” as applicable, of the U.S. Treasury yield curve through a notional rolling investment in U.S. Treasury note futures contracts. UBS E-TRACS 2x Long Alerian MLP Infrastructure ETN MLPL is about 22% higher since the beginning of the year and within 2% of the 52-week high reached last spring. The investment seeks to replicate twice the monthly performance of the Alerian MLP Infrastructure index, which is a composite of 25 energy infrastructure Master Limited Partnerships. SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital Build America Bond BABS is up more than 21% year to date but more than 4% below the 52-week high. The fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities comprising the underlying index, which tracks the market for taxable municipal securities designated as “Qualified Bonds” under the Build America Bond program created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. iShares Barclays 10-20 Year Treasury Bond TLH is up almost 19% since the beginning of the year, despite being essentially flat over the past month. The fund generally invests at least 90% of its assets in the bonds of the underlying index, which measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury with a remaining maturity of between 10 and 20 years and with capitalization of $250 million or more of outstanding face value. PowerShares Build America Bond BAB is up more than 18% higher year to date despite a recent pullback. The fund invests at least 80% of the total assets in taxable municipal securities eligible to participate in the Build America Bonds program created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or other legislation providing for the issuance of taxable municipal securities on which the issuer receives federal support of the interest paid.