Tag Archives: fbt

Cancer Treatment ETF Surges In Past Few Days

MarketMuse update courtesy of extract from Todd Shriber’s latest piece at ETFTrends. 

ETFTrends-logoShares of Pharmacyclics (NasdaqGS: PCYC), a maker of cancer treatments, surged nearly 17% Wednesday, extending a run that has seen the stock surge 80.1% this year, on news that the California-based company is mulling a sale.

Citing unidentified sources, Bloombergreports that Dow component Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)and Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NYSE: NVS) could be among the suitors for Pharmacyclics. Multiple suitors for the company could prove to be a boon for the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSEArca: FBT), one of a scant number of exchange traded funds that have decent exposure toPharmacyclics.

Shares of FBT climbed 1.9% Wednesday on volume that was more than 25% above the three-month trailing average thanks in part to the ETF’s nearly 4.1% weight to Pharmacyclics. The stock was FBT’s third-largest holding as of Feb. 24, helping the ETF join 24 other healthcare funds among the 195 ETFs that hit all-time highs yesterday.

Where things get interesting for Pharmacyclics, and as a result, FBT, is how much of a premium a suitor will pay. Pharmacyclics closed Wednesday with a market value of $16.6 billion. Sources told Bloomberg the company could fetch $17 billion to $18 billion. The Financial Times reported Pharmacyclics could command $19 billion.

For the entire article from ETFtrends.com, please click here

Did You Say “Biotech!”? Unheralded and Under The Hood

benzinga-logoCourtesy of SeekingAlpha and Benzinga.com ETF Professor

Another day, another set of fresh all-time highs for the major biotechnology ETFs. Biotech investors were treated to the same feat in late March, but as healthcare has continued to be a market-leading sector, faster-moving biotech funds have flourished.

Heading into the start of trading Thursday the Market Vectors Biotech ETF (BBH) was leading the way with a year-to-date gain of over 21 percent. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index Fund (IBB), the largest biotech ETF by assets, has not been a slouch with a gain of 20.5 percent while the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund(FBT) has returned 19.7 percent this year.

The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), an almost equal-weight play on the sector, has jumped 15.2 percent.

All are higher by at least 1.3 percent in midday trading and all are touching new all-time highs. With performances like that combined with the notion that four biotech ETFs are probably enough, it is easy for other funds to get lost in the shuffle.

Such is life for the PowerShares Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome Portfolio (PBE), though that does not mean PBE is a bad ETF. Quite the contrary. PBE was up 14.8 percent year-to-date at the start of trading Thursday. Less than months shy of its eighth birthday, PBE also joined the new all-time high club today.

In a crowded field of biotech ETFs, a fund such as PBE that does not reside among the previously mentioned big four needs to stand out in some way. PBE does that. For starters, PBE is not dominated by the big four biotech stocks. Those being Amgen (AMGN), Biogen (BIIB),Celgene (CELG) and Gilead Sciences (GILD). Continue reading

Despite Rally, US Market Lags List of 35 Best Global ETF Markets

We just scored the most recent trading desk comments courtesy of   WallachBeth Capital’s Chris Hempstead.

” Last week I took a look at YTD performance of the US Equity based ETF’s with exposure to the S&P sectors.

Today I would like to broaden that view and simply rank and look at the YTD top performing Equity based ETF’s globally.

What sparked my interest in creating this list was my curiosity to see how far down the list I needed to go before I found the top US Equity ETF. I wasn’t expecting it to be so far down the list, however I am not surprised that it was biotech for being the US market sector group which has been on the biggest tear in the US Continue reading