There are plenty of ETF choices out there for investors. Some might make more sense than others, according to a late December analysis from S&P Capital IQ.
In particular, the research team identified three of the largest (all are more than $500 million in market capitalization) ETFs it gives an underweight ranking to. These are the mutual funds S&P Capital IQ said were less than worthy contenders as portfolio choices at the moment, and they are: First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (FDN); Rydex S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF (RFG); and SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP).
First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index has been hurt by ownership of companies such as Amazon.com, Juniper Networks and Yahoo!, all of which have below-average S&P quality rankings at present. The expense ratio of this fund, 0.66%, is also higher than many of its tech-sector peers.
Rydex S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth has a number of large holdings that S&P considers overvalued, such as Hansen Natural and TIBCO Software. However, on the plus side, the expense ratio is 0.35%.
SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration and Production also has had in recent months what S&P considers to be overvalued stocks (as well as stocks with below-average quality rankings) in its top-10 holdings, including Continental Resources, McMoran Exploration and Plains Exploration and Production. However, this fund too has a relatively low expense ratio of 0.35%.
Danielle Reed writes for
