A Few Thoughts on the Next Decade

Monday, December 30, 2019 – We wish our readers a good holiday and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year! Looking at the markets as we close out the year, US investors can breathe a sigh of relief as we appear to have made it through the year without any significant bruises. In fact, 2019 has been a good year to US Investors with 2 trading days to go.

Despite all the worrisome news headlines about which we wrote, US Equity and Global Markets climbed their climb last week. The broad market S&P 500 closed the week and hit a high of 3240.02. The NASDAQ Composite broke thru 9000 to close at 9006.62. Both indexes hitting new all-time highs. In Europe, the STOXX Europe 600 hit an all-time high – up almost 25% YTD. One item that grabbed our attention was the drop in negative yielding bonds since August til now -- $17 trillion down to $11 trillion.  Our readers know our thoughts on the consequences of negative interest rates, so we view this development as a big positive.

While investors are betting on an economic pickup, a trade deal with China and subsequently, higher corporate earnings, we started to think about what the new decade of 2020 might mean for investors....

We expect more volatility in US Markets in 2020. Why? We see a highly polarized election in the US and suspect investors to be sensitive to ever shifting election poll numbers especially the first half of the year. Secondly, structural shifts in the marketplace with limited liquidity from market makers and the newly instituted “free trading” of stocks and ETFs from the retail electronic brokers will encourage more short-term trading in and out of positions due to nearly no frictional costs except tax liabilities. Despite an apparent positive for investors, a friend and an old sage of Wall Street observed “free is usually not good.” We agree in this case.

We note an interesting commentary by Richard Bernstein who sees a trend toward inflation and with that higher interest rates. Quantitative easing, increased use of fiscal policy (i.e., tax cuts, increased military (i.e., space) spending, rising compensation for low paid workers and increased tariffs on goods generally are inflationary, even if the increased costs have not yet shown up in official statistics. All this favors emerging markets and gold according to Bernstein. We agree. In fact, Emerging Markets have had meager returns for investors over the past decade compared to the S&P 500.

This got us thinking about the US Dollar and its dominance in international finance and trade. The US has long enjoyed the benefits since WWII of the role that the US Dollar has offered in borrowing to finance the trade and budget deficits. In the new multipolar world, its dominance is going to be chipped away by the EU, Russia and of course China. The consequence of this will be higher interest rates for US Dollar borrowers including the US Treasury. Our readers know from previous writings what we believe the consequences will be for investors - a shift to higher rates. So, stay turned in the coming decade.

A word about the world of ETFs in the next decade. Look for ETFs to become the dominant investment vehicle worldwide. In the US, the long-awaited ETF Rule and related guidelines recently issued by the SEC will result in a streamlined and less costly process to issue “traditional ETFs.” Investors should expect to see a rush by traditional mutual fund companies to issue non-transparent, actively managed ETFs. Lastly, look for large electronic BDs to offer investors fractional share ETF investing. This is significant as it will be an assault on traditional providers in the 401K market.

All of this creates opportunities for traders and active investors who can use ETFs to take advantage of real-time market volatility – both up and down! To take advantage of this, we suggest looking at our ETFG Weekly Select List.

To best support the ETF selection process, The ETFG Weekly Select List highlights the 5 most highly rated ETFs per Sector, Geographic Region and Strategy as ranked by the ETFG Quant model.

We suggest keeping a mindful eye on tools like our Select List and Risk and Reward Ratings that can be used to evaluate the vast set of opportunities in the ETF marketplace. Today’s market realities require a new approach to macro investing, one in which individual investors now have access to tools via ETPs to customize risk and return profiles in their portfolios. Use our Scanner to find those funds.

Thanks for reading ETF Global Perspectives!

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Assumptions, opinions and estimates constitute our judgment as of the date of this material and are subject to change without notice.  ETF Global LLC (“ETFG”) and its affiliates and any third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents (collectively ETFG Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or timeliness of any information, including ratings and rankings and are not responsible for errors and omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information and ETFG Parties shall have no liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions therein, regardless of the cause, or for the results obtained from the use of such information. ETFG PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SUITABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE.  In no event shall ETFG Parties be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs) in connection with any use of the information contained in this document even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

ETFG ratings and rankings are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions. ETFG ratings and rankings should not be relied on when making any investment or other business decision.  ETFG’s opinions and analyses do not address the suitability of any security.  ETFG does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor.  While ETFG has obtained information from sources they believe to be reliable, ETFG does not perform an audit or undertake any duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives.

This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  Any opinions expressed herein are given in good faith, are subject to change without notice, and are only correct as of the stated date of their issue.  Prices, values, or income from any securities or investments mentioned in this report may fall against the interests of the investor and the investor may get back less than the amount invested.  Where an investment is described as being likely to yield income, please note that the amount of income that the investor will receive from such an investment may fluctuate.  Where an investment or security is denominated in a different currency to the investor's currency of reference, changes in rates of exchange may have an adverse effect on the value, price or income.

In the Face of it All, Record Highs

Monday, December 23, 2019 - In the wake of further political tension, impeachment hearings and uncertainties regarding next year’s election, the markets are dancing to the beat of their own drum as once again they are hitting record highs.

For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 78 points finishing at a record high of 28,455. The S&P 500 gained 53 points to 3,221 and the Nasdaq Composite also finished up, gaining 190 points to close week at 8,924 both record highs.

In ETFs, we saw 3 funds take in over $1B this week, all of which track the S&P 500. SPY, the SPDRS S&P 500 ETF, led the way gaining over $3.8B in assets for the week. That was followed by RPG, the Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF and VOO, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF which gained over $1.6B and $1.2B in assets respectively. In outflows, investors pulled money out of the Invesco Q’s, QQQ, which lost over $1.5B in assets the last week. That was followed by VO, the Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF, which lost over $1.1B, all according to our ETFG Fund Flow Summary.

In the ETFG Quant Movers, we had an assortment of products add the most percent to their overall scores. The VictoryShares International High Dividend Volatility Weighted ETF, CID, gained the most percent to its overall score with the addition of 23.33%. That was followed by the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Utilities ETF, RYU and the SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets Strategic Factors ETF, QEMM, which added 23.13% and 17.64% to their overall Quant scores respectively.

On the loser’s side, we saw Preferred Stock focused ETFs drop their overall scores. This was led by the Global X SuperIncome Preferred ETF, SPFF which lost 16.15% to its overall score. That was followed by the First Trust Preferred Securities and Income ETF, FPE which lost 15.67% to its overall score.

Because of this sector’s success, we’d like to highlight some substantial movement in the Natural Resources portion of this week’s Select List. The FlexShares STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index ETF, NFRA and the DJ Brookfield Global Infrastructure ETF, TOLZ held firm at the top two positions respectively. FTRI, the First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources Income ETF moved up two spots to the 3^rd overall position displacing TBLU, the Tortoise Water Fund which is now the 5^th rank ETF. Coming in 4^th place this week, and keeping its position firm on the list was PAVE, the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF.

Thanks for reading ETF Global Perspectives!

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_______________________________________________________

Assumptions, opinions and estimates constitute our judgment as of the date of this material and are subject to change without notice.  ETF Global LLC (“ETFG”) and its affiliates and any third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents (collectively ETFG Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or timeliness of any information, including ratings and rankings and are not responsible for errors and omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information and ETFG Parties shall have no liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions therein, regardless of the cause, or for the results obtained from the use of such information. ETFG PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SUITABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE.  In no event shall ETFG Parties be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs) in connection with any use of the information contained in this document even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

ETFG ratings and rankings are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions. ETFG ratings and rankings should not be relied on when making any investment or other business decision.  ETFG’s opinions and analyses do not address the suitability of any security.  ETFG does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor.  While ETFG has obtained information from sources they believe to be reliable, ETFG does not perform an audit or undertake any duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives.

This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  Any opinions expressed herein are given in good faith, are subject to change without notice, and are only correct as of the stated date of their issue.  Prices, values, or income from any securities or investments mentioned in this report may fall against the interests of the investor and the investor may get back less than the amount invested.  Where an investment is described as being likely to yield income, please note that the amount of income that the investor will receive from such an investment may fluctuate.  Where an investment or security is denominated in a different currency to the investor's currency of reference, changes in rates of exchange may have an adverse effect on the value, price or income.

First Leg of Trade Pact

December 16, 2019 - It was a record week for the major US Indices as trade talks between the US and China ushered their first resolution. The first leg of the trade deal was agreed to in principal meaning the imposition of new tariffs, scheduled for December 15^th, was put on hold while China agreed to purchase more US agricultural goods. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended just 0.1% off of its record high at 28,135. The S&P 500 gained 21 points to 3,168 and the Nasdaq Composite also finished up, gaining 57 to close the week at 8,734, both record highs.

In ETFs, we saw the largest inflows into the biggest ETFs on the market. SPY, the SPDRS S&P 500 ETF, led the way gaining over $3.8B in assets for the week. That was followed by VTI, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, which gained over $1.5B in assets. In outflows, we saw investors pull money out of fixed income ETFs. LQD, the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, lost over $700M in assets the last week. That was followed by IEF, the iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF, which lost over $400M, all according to our ETFG Fund Flow Summary.

ETFG Quant Movers – Those ETFs who have had the largest weekly change in their respective, overall ETFG Quant ratings.

ETFG Quant Winners: In ETFG Quant Movers, we had an eclectic group of products add the most to their overall scores. The VictoryShares International High Dividend Volatility Weighted ETF, CID, gained the most points to its overall score with the addition of 9.43. That was followed by the Legg Mason Small-Cap Quality Value ETF, SQLV and the SPDR NYSE Technology Fund, XNTK, which added 7.11 and 7.02 to their overall Quant scores respectively.

ETFG Quant Losers: On the loser’s side, we saw Japanese focused ETFs drop in their overall scores. This was led by the SPDR Solactive Japan ETF, ZJPN, which lost 7.65 to its overall score. That was followed by the iShares MSCI Japan ETF, EWJ and the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF, DXJ, which lost 7.39 and 6.20 to their overall scores respectively.

ETFG Weekly Select List - The five most highly rated ETFs per Sector, Geographic Region and Strategy as ranked by the ETFG Quant model.

Because of this sector’s success, we’d like to highlight some substantial movement in the Communications portion of this week’s Select List. The Communications Services Select Sector SPDR Fund, XLC, took the reigns at the top of the list. That knocked off the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Communication Services ETF, EWCO, which finished in second place this week. IYZ, the iShares US Telecommunications ETF swapped places with the Fidelity MSCI Telecommunications Services Index ETF, FCOM, which finished 3rd and 4th respectively.  Rounding out the top 5 this week was the SPDR S&P Telecom ETF, XTL, which knocked the Vanguard Communications Services ETF, VOX, off the list.

Thanks for reading ETF Global Perspectives!

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_______________________________________________________

Assumptions, opinions and estimates constitute our judgment as of the date of this material and are subject to change without notice.  ETF Global LLC (“ETFG”) and its affiliates and any third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents (collectively ETFG Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or timeliness of any information, including ratings and rankings and are not responsible for errors and omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information and ETFG Parties shall have no liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions therein, regardless of the cause, or for the results obtained from the use of such information. ETFG PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SUITABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE.  In no event shall ETFG Parties be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs) in connection with any use of the information contained in this document even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

ETFG ratings and rankings are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions. ETFG ratings and rankings should not be relied on when making any investment or other business decision.  ETFG’s opinions and analyses do not address the suitability of any security.  ETFG does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor.  While ETFG has obtained information from sources they believe to be reliable, ETFG does not perform an audit or undertake any duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives.

This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  Any opinions expressed herein are given in good faith, are subject to change without notice, and are only correct as of the stated date of their issue.  Prices, values, or income from any securities or investments mentioned in this report may fall against the interests of the investor and the investor may get back less than the amount invested.  Where an investment is described as being likely to yield income, please note that the amount of income that the investor will receive from such an investment may fluctuate.  Where an investment or security is denominated in a different currency to the investor's currency of reference, changes in rates of exchange may have an adverse effect on the value, price or income.

Winners Announced - Fall 2019 ETF Global Portfolio Challenge

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - After 10 weeks of close competition, the Fall 2019 ETF Global Portfolio Challenge has come to a conclusion. The competition began on September 30^th and ended this past Friday, December 6^th. Our contestants all began the semester with a virtual balance of $100,000 and with the task of constructing the best performing portfolio of ETFs.

Students were afforded weekly rebalancing opportunities and allowed to invest in a minimum of 4 and maximum of 10 ETFs at a time. While the challenge came down to the wire, these select students were able to separate themselves from the competition.  Please join us in congratulating the Fall 2019 Winners!

Fall 2019: Top 5 Winners

Name	School	Portfolio Return
Jessica Rodriguez	Keuka College	35.93%
Tyler Key	Keuka College	27.30%
Luke Labuski	Rochester Institute of Technology	26.24%
Brian Toy	Binghamton University	24.54%
Nicolas Noyard	ESCP Europe	22.48%

Once again, the portfolio challenge drew students from diverse backgrounds and geographies, underscoring the broad appeal ETFs have among emerging investors. As shown in our top 5 and 6-25 below, this semester's challenge spanned the globe with participants from 6 continents (hopefully, we'll get Antarctica next time!)

Fall 2019: 6^th – 25^th Places

Name	School	Portfolio Return
Gianmarco Baldo	Universita della Svizzera Italiana	21.95%
Kassidy Spoon	Keuka College	21.33%
Dan Zhumad	North Carolina State University	20.78%
Christian Valen	Messiah College	20.72%
Yeeching Loh	University of Malaya	19.74%
Enrick Gatien	University Laval	18.10%
Dustin Wallace	University of California at Berkeley	18.02%
Bao Tran	Keuka College	17.92%
Matthew Sechrist	Messiah College	17.35%
Ann Stull	Keuka College	17.34%
Bethany Eubank	Plymouth State University	17.31%
Stephen Devaney	University of Massachusetts - Boston	17.18%
Rasmeera Maisarrah Roselan	University of Malaya	15.52%
Sabastian Keister	Pennsylvania State University	14.76%
Yat Yin Wong	The University of Hong Kong	14.74%
Rajes Velu	University of Malaya	14.73%
Min Shen	Rutgers University	14.50%
Sarah Frendo	St John’s University	14.50%
Anthony Jiang	Baruch University	14.46%
Sheng Hang Sia	University of Malaya	14.28%

Registration for the Spring 2020 Portfolio Challenge will open shortly and we welcome all college students to participate, compete for prizes and learn about the rapidly-expanding ETF market. Visit our website - etfportfoliochallenge.com for more information.

Thank you for reading ETF Global Perspectives!

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_______________________________________________________

Assumptions, opinions and estimates constitute our judgment as of the date of this material and are subject to change without notice.  ETF Global LLC (“ETFG”) and its affiliates and any third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents (collectively ETFG Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or timeliness of any information, including ratings and rankings and are not responsible for errors and omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information and ETFG Parties shall have no liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions therein, regardless of the cause, or for the results obtained from the use of such information. ETFG PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SUITABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE.  In no event shall ETFG Parties be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs) in connection with any use of the information contained in this document even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

ETFG ratings and rankings are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions. ETFG ratings and rankings should not be relied on when making any investment or other business decision.  ETFG’s opinions and analyses do not address the suitability of any security.  ETFG does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor.  While ETFG has obtained information from sources they believe to be reliable, ETFG does not perform an audit or undertake any duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives.

This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  Any opinions expressed herein are given in good faith, are subject to change without notice, and are only correct as of the stated date of their issue.  Prices, values, or income from any securities or investments mentioned in this report may fall against the interests of the investor and the investor may get back less than the amount invested.  Where an investment is described as being likely to yield income, please note that the amount of income that the investor will receive from such an investment may fluctuate.  Where an investment or security is denominated in a different currency to the investor's currency of reference, changes in rates of exchange may have an adverse effect on the value, price or income.

Strong Employment is the Driver

Monday, December 9, 2019 - After what looked to be a tough week for the markets amid President Trump’s comments that it may be late 2020 before we can establish a trade accord with China, Friday’s job report erased most of the mess created. The market rallied back from its losses for the first week of December.

The Department of Labor announced employment numbers for the month of November and they greatly exceeded the expectation of 100,000 jobs created. The report revealed there were 266,000 jobs created in the month. Following suit, the markets immediately made up any ground that was lost in the beginning of the week and the major indexes finished as follow: The Dow Jones finished slightly down for the week, but it jumped from 27,677.79 on Thursday’s close to 28,010.87 on Friday’s close. The S&P 500 was up slightly for the week, as it opened at 3,140.53 on Monday and closed at 3,145.88 on Friday. Lastly, the Nasdaq Composite finished slightly lower as well, opening at 8,659.15 and closing at 8,656.53 on Friday. Considering where these indexes were, following Thursday’s close, investors seem to be thrilled about the markets following the job report.

On to the ETFG Quant Movers report this week, we will look at our 5 biggest % Gainers and % Losers. For % Gainers, our top five winners this week were IBB, SLYV, AADR, SLY and MDYG. They jumped 102.49%, 96.75%, 88.35%, 87.86% and 81.71% respectively. SLYV and SLY are ETFs that track the S&P Small Cap 600 Value Index, which is consistent with the strong showing the small cap industry has had over the past few months. Overall, when looking at small cap indexes such as the S&P 600 or the Russell 2000, we saw that on Friday they both neared 52-week highs, showing us that small cap has been enjoying a strong year, and possibly poised for a 2020 breakout.

Our top 5 ETFG Quant losers this week were SPFF, MLPC, MLPY, WBIG, PGX. They went down 39.75%, 34.22, 30.70, 30.52, 30.42 respectively. Two of these, MLPC and MLPY, track Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) which mainly deal with transporting and storing natural resources such as gas or oil. Our model picked up that MLPs are continuing to have a rough year and it was no different this week. Midstream MLPs have been suffering from multiple factors this year, (one being lower demand for oil and gas, which we noted in our blog last week that news of a warm Winter is playing a factor in this as of late) and we are seeing record lows across the board, nearing 10% YTD drops.

Finally, we move on to the ETFG weekly select list. Comparing this week’s select list with last week’s, we will check 5 of the biggest positive movers this week in the Geography sector, all of which may offer upside potential. We see the top 5 ETFs to choose in this sector based on the list are: KGRN, IEUR, IVAL, SLY, and ILF.

Thank you for reading ETF Global Perspectives!

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assumptions, opinions and estimates constitute our judgment as of the date of this material and are subject to change without notice.  ETF Global LLC (“ETFG”) and its affiliates and any third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents (collectively ETFG Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or timeliness of any information, including ratings and rankings and are not responsible for errors and omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information and ETFG Parties shall have no liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions therein, regardless of the cause, or for the results obtained from the use of such information. ETFG PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SUITABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE.  In no event shall ETFG Parties be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs) in connection with any use of the information contained in this document even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

ETFG ratings and rankings are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions. ETFG ratings and rankings should not be relied on when making any investment or other business decision.  ETFG’s opinions and analyses do not address the suitability of any security.  ETFG does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor.  While ETFG has obtained information from sources they believe to be reliable, ETFG does not perform an audit or undertake any duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives.

This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  Any opinions expressed herein are given in good faith, are subject to change without notice, and are only correct as of the stated date of their issue.  Prices, values, or income from any securities or investments mentioned in this report may fall against the interests of the investor and the investor may get back less than the amount invested.  Where an investment is described as being likely to yield income, please note that the amount of income that the investor will receive from such an investment may fluctuate.  Where an investment or security is denominated in a different currency to the investor's currency of reference, changes in rates of exchange may have an adverse effect on the value, price or income.

Cyber Monday

Monday, December 2, 2019 - The holiday season is officially here and consumers are in position to have a massive effect on the markets. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all closed on highs Wednesday, rebounding from last week’s poor showing. However, after Thanksgiving, we saw a slight dip in these indices on Black Friday. The Dow Jones fell 112.59 points (-0.40%), the S&P 500 fell 12.65 points (-0.40%), and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 39.70 points (-0.46%).

On the geopolitical front, the potential for a trade deal with China appeared to become bleaker, as President Trump signed two bills on Wednesday lending support to demonstrators in Hong Kong.  A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry had this to say about the bills Trump signed: “It is a stark hegemonic practice & a severe interference in Hong Kong affairs, which are China’s internal affairs. China will take strong counter-measures.”

ETFG Quant Movers – Those ETFs who have had the largest weekly change in their respective, overall ETFG Quant ratings.

ETFG Quant Winners: We can see this week’s 5 biggest % Gainers were SPFF, EEH, IGF, FAUS, and EDIV, showing gains of 21.91%, 16.93%, 14.07%, 12.92%, and 12.62% respectively. By a wide margin, our model picked up SPFF (Global X SuperIncome Preferred ETF) as the largest gainer this week, perhaps showing us that investors are taking a defensive approach to the market as President Trump continues to cast doubt on a trade agreement with China.

ETFG Quant Losers: The top 5 big % Losers this week were HAP, MLPG, IMTM, IAI, and VOT who lost -13.18%, -12.78%, -10.29%, -10.25%, -10.01% respectively. The two largest losers (VanEck Vectors Natural Resources ETF and ETRACS Alerian Natural Gas MLP Index ETN, respectively) were an easy call as we saw this industry get hit hard this week. News that warmer weather is on the way scared off natural gas investors, as they generally view Winter as a time of large demand for natural gas.

ETFG Weekly Select List - The five most highly rated ETFs per Sector, Geographic Region and Strategy as ranked by the ETFG Quant model. Comparing ETF Global’s weekly select lists from the past two weeks, we can see that KMED, XPFE, FNDI are potential upside ETFs as they have moved up in their respective rankings this week.

Thank you for reading ETF Global Perspectives!

ETFG 21 Day Free Trial:  https://www.etfg.com/signup/quick

_______________________________________________________

Assumptions, opinions and estimates constitute our judgment as of the date of this material and are subject to change without notice.  ETF Global LLC (“ETFG”) and its affiliates and any third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders, employees or agents (collectively ETFG Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or timeliness of any information, including ratings and rankings and are not responsible for errors and omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information and ETFG Parties shall have no liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions therein, regardless of the cause, or for the results obtained from the use of such information. ETFG PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SUITABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE.  In no event shall ETFG Parties be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs) in connection with any use of the information contained in this document even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

ETFG ratings and rankings are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions. ETFG ratings and rankings should not be relied on when making any investment or other business decision.  ETFG’s opinions and analyses do not address the suitability of any security.  ETFG does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor.  While ETFG has obtained information from sources they believe to be reliable, ETFG does not perform an audit or undertake any duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives.

This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  Any opinions expressed herein are given in good faith, are subject to change without notice, and are only correct as of the stated date of their issue.  Prices, values, or income from any securities or investments mentioned in this report may fall against the interests of the investor and the investor may get back less than the amount invested.  Where an investment is described as being likely to yield income, please note that the amount of income that the investor will receive from such an investment may fluctuate.  Where an investment or security is denominated in a different currency to the investor's currency of reference, changes in rates of exchange may have an adverse effect on the value, price or income.