The United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca:UNG) and a number
of other gas-focused ETFs were among the best-performing
exchange-traded products last week, amid signs that gas producers
are trimming production, helping to halt a three-year slide in
prices.
UNG returned 5.86 percent, while the Teucrium Natural Gas Fund
(NYSEArca:NAGS) added 4.44 percent and the United States Natural
Gas Fund (NYSEArca:UNL) rose 4.2 percent in the five trading days
ended May 10, according to data compiled by IndexUniverse. The
moves all amount to signs that the gas market may well be bottoming
out.
The spot gas contract on the NYMEX that expires in June has lost
more than three-quarters of its value since just before financial
markets crashed in 2008. UNG meanwhile lost about 95 percent of its
value between then and the end of March of this year, with the
extra losses linked to the costs of rolling the fund's front-month
exposure when the market is in contango.
But since about mid-April, gas prices have been rallying amid
reports that big producers, including Exxon Mobil, are cutting
output. Those cuts come at a time when demand has not kept pace
with the production explosion of the past few years due to
technologies such as hydraulic fracturing. UNG has risen upward of
20 percent in the past month.
UNG performs worse than a particular gas contract because of
contango. Contango, also described as a "normal" futures curve, is
when the front-month contract is cheaper than contracts that expire
farther out in the future, meaning that when fund managers switch
out of a front-month contract that's about to expire, they end up
paying more for the contract that replaces it, detracting from
returns.
The top-performing exchange-traded product in the past week was
the C-Tracks Exchange-Traded Notes on the Citi Volatility Index
(NYSEArca:CVOL).
CVOL, which gained 6.79 percent, was one of many
volatility-related ETPs that made it onto IndexUniverse's
top-performing list as markets turned frightful amid renewed
concern about the viability of the eurozone and of Greece in
particular.
Worst Performers
Indeed, the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (NYSEArca:GREK) was
third on IndexUniverse's worst-performers list, declining 9.41
percent.
The two worst-performing funds were China-related:the Global X
China Industrials ETF (NYSEArca:CHII) and the iShares MSCI Hong
Kong Small Cap Index Fund (NYSEArca:EWHS). Both funds lost about 10
percent.
Top 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse
Funds and 'lt;1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker |
Name |
Weekly Performance |
Weekly Volume |
AUM ($, mm) |
| CVOL |
C-Tracks Exchange-Traded Notes on the Citi
Volatility |
6.79% |
127,821 |
8.03 |
| UNG |
United States Natural Gas |
5.86% |
68,336,030 |
941.09 |
| VXBB |
ETRACS 2-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN |
5.84% |
1,100 |
5.47 |
| NAGS |
Teucrium Natural Gas Fund |
4.44% |
11,547 |
1.76 |
| VIXY |
ProShares VIX Short-Term |
4.35% |
3,776,861 |
162.86 |
| VIIX |
VelocityShares VIX Short Term ETN |
4.25% |
1,226,457 |
25.73 |
| UNL |
United States 12 Month Natural Gas |
4.20% |
345,497 |
36.52 |
| VXX |
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN |
4.05% |
241,500,604 |
1,917.26 |
| VNM |
Market Vectors Vietnam |
2.97% |
1,188,880 |
352.77 |
| VIXM |
ProShares VIX Mid-term |
2.46% |
151,334 |
107.40 |
Bottom 10 Weekly Performers, Excluding Leverage/Inverse
Funds and 'lt;1,000 Shares Traded
| Ticker |
Name |
Weekly Performance |
Weekly Volume |
AUM ($, mm) |
| CHII |
Global X China Industrials |
-10.11% |
13,968 |
4.40 |
| EWHS |
iShares MSCI Hong Kong Small Cap |
-10.08% |
1,413 |
5.37 |
| GREK |
Global X FTSE Greece 20 |
-9.41% |
64,456 |
2.59 |
| SPGH |
ETRACS S&P 500 Gold Hedged ETN |
-9.23% |
7,506 |
16.88 |
| URA |
Global X Uranium |
-9.11% |
1,148,864 |
156.96 |
| EWAS |
iShares MSCI Australia Small Cap |
-8.90% |
2,374 |
2.42 |
| BAL |
iPath Dow Jones-UBS Cotton Total Return ETN |
-8.60% |
265,602 |
32.98 |
| GLDX |
Global X Gold Explorers |
-8.17% |
436,291 |
27.77 |
| CHXX |
EGShares China Infrastructure |
-8.15% |
144,587 |
12.09 |
| COPX |
Global X Copper Miners |
-8.06% |
159,342 |
29.42 |
Disclaimer:All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the
article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however,
transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and
correction by the exchanges.
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