ETF Deathwatch for October 2010
October 4, 2010 by Ron Rowland
Filed under Commentary, ETF Deathwatch 2010
The number of exchange-traded products (ETPs) on ETF Deathwatch declined slightly this month to 149 (113 ETFs and 36 ETNs). Six ETFs were delisted and closed during September, while the quantity on Deathwatch only declined by four from last month as other products were quick to fill the void.
The six September closures consisted of four from Claymore (CRO, EXB, IRO, and ROB) and two from Geary (OOK and TXF). All were previous members of ETF Deathwatch so their closings should not have come as a surprise to regular readers. Geary no longer has any listed products and stated its intent to exit the ETF marketplace.
Much of the former Claymore product line was rebranded with the Guggenheim label in September. However, most of the products not acquiring the new brand find themselves on ETF Deathwatch this month:
- Claymore CEF Index GS Connect ETN (GCE)
- Claymore U.S. Capital Markets Micro-Term Fixed Income (ULQ)
- Claymore U.S. Capital Markets Bond (UBD)
- Wilshire 4500 Completion ETF (WXSP)
- Wilshire 5000 Total Market ETF (WFVK)
- Wilshire Micro-Cap ETF (WMCR)
Vanguard seriously stepped up the level of competition in the ETF arena during September with two significant launches (see Vanguard Declares War in Fight for Broad Market ETF Supremacy and Vanguard Launches Second Assault on iShares). These actions were likely a contributing factor in Old Mutual’s decision last month to exit the space and liquidate its ETFs in October.
Firms with a large percentage of their products on ETF Deathwatch should also consider exiting the business, or figure out how to become profitable. Sponsors with 100% of their ETFs on this month’s list include FaithShares, Grail, and TDX.
The dubious honor of being on the top of the list this month belongs to iShares MSCI Far East Financials Sector (FEFN). This ETF almost went the entire month of September without a trade, but then some brave person stepped forward with a 100-share trade on September 29. That was the only trade for FEFN during the month, putting its average daily volume at just five shares. Direxion Daily 2-Year Treasury Bull 3x (TWOL) was not far behind. It too had only one trade during the month, but it was for 200 shares.
For the 17 new products launched in March, this is the first time they are eligible for the list and six of them are included below. There are currently 114 products that have been granted temporary immunity because they are less than six months old.
Listed below are the 149 products on ETF Deathwatch for September that are at least six months old and failed to generate at least $100,000 in average daily dollar volume last month.
ETF Deathwatch October 2010
| Death-watch Rank | Ticker Sym | ETF Name | Age (mths) | Avg Daily Volume | Avg Daily $ Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FEFN | iShares MSCI Far East Financials Sector | 8 | 5 | $116 |
| 2 | TWOL | Direxion Daily 2-Year Treasury Bull 3x | 7 | 10 | $393 |
| 3 | UBN | UBS E-TRACS CMCI Energy TR ETN | 30 | 43 | $586 |
| 4 | PGD | Barclays Asian&Gulf Currency Reval. ETN | 28 | 24 | $1,197 |
| 5 | PTD | UBS E-TRACS CMCI Short Platinum ER ETN | 29 | 48 | $1,454 |
| 6 | BVL | ELEMENTS Ben Graham Large Cap Value ETN | 26 | 157 | $1,622 |
| 7 | EEH | ELEMENTS Spctrm LgCap US Sector Mo ETN | 39 | 319 | $2,651 |
| 8 | FMV | FaithShares Methodist Values Fund | 10 | 105 | $2,808 |
| 9 | RPX | Grail RP Growth ETF | 12 | 138 | $3,906 |
| 10 | GMMB | Grail McDonnell Intermediate Municipal Bnd | 8 | 81 | $4,204 |
| 11 | GWO | ELEMENTS CS Global Warming ETN | 30 | 719 | $4,298 |
| 12 | FZB | FaithShares Baptist Values Fund | 10 | 167 | $4,387 |
| 13 | FUE | ELEMENTS MLCX Biofuels ETN | 32 | 576 | $5,213 |
| 14 | ULQ | Claymore U.S. Cap Mkts Micro-Trm Fxd Inc | 32 | 105 | $5,214 |
| 15 | UBC | UBS E-TRACS CMCI Livestock TR ETN | 30 | 267 | $5,492 |
| 16 | BVT | ELEMENTS Ben Graham Total Mkt Value ETN | 26 | 633 | $6,918 |
| 17 | FKL | FaithShares Lutheran Values Fund | 10 | 286 | $7,515 |
| 18 | PMA | PowerShares Active Mega-Cap Portfolio | 30 | 348 | $7,876 |
| 19 | BSC | ELEMENTS Ben Graham Small Cap Value ETN | 26 | 738 | $8,277 |
| 20 | GMTB | Grail McDonnell Core Taxable Bond ETF | 8 | 171 | $8,929 |
| 21 | WFVK | Wilshire 5000 Total Market ETF (Guggenheim) | 7 | 367 | $9,081 |
| 22 | DPU | PowerShares DB Commodity Long ETN | 30 | 581 | $9,145 |
| 23 | JVS | JETS DJ Islamic Market International | 15 | 224 | $10,389 |
| 24 | KME | SPDR KBW Mortgage Finance ETF | 17 | 267 | $10,736 |
| 25 | SPGH | UBS E-TRACS S&P 500 Gold Hedged Idx ETN | 8 | 357 | $11,091 |
| 26 | UBM | UBS E-TRACS CMCI Industrial Metals TR ETN | 30 | 562 | $11,953 |
| 27 | MKH | HOLDRS Merrill Lynch Market 2000+ | 123 | 262 | $12,216 |
| 28 | WMH | HOLDRS Wireless | 121 | 295 | $12,291 |
| 29 | TWQ | ProShares UltraShort Russell3000 | 15 | 576 | $12,403 |
| 30 | FOC | FaithShares Christian Values Fund | 10 | 519 | $13,834 |
| 31 | BDG | PowerShares DB Base Metals Long ETN | 28 | 681 | $15,098 |
| 32 | TZO | iShares S&P Target Date 2035 Index Fund | 23 | 495 | $15,118 |
| 33 | DJCI | UBS E-TRACS DJ-UBS Commodity TR ETN | 11 | 595 | $15,528 |
| 34 | UAG | UBS E-TRACS CMCI Agriculture TR ETN | 30 | 676 | $16,242 |
| 35 | FCV | FaithShares Catholic Values Fund | 10 | 619 | $16,377 |
| 36 | EKH | HOLDRS Europe 2001 | 118 | 281 | $16,385 |
| 37 | TZL | iShares S&P Target Date 2030 Index Fund | 23 | 538 | $16,510 |
| 38 | PBTQ | PowerShares Global Biotech Portfolio | 25 | 686 | $16,825 |
| 39 | PQZ | PowerShares Active Alpha Multi-Cap | 30 | 1,014 | $16,927 |
| 40 | GRN | iPath Global Carbon ETN | 28 | 619 | $17,469 |
| 41 | GVT | Grail American Beacon Large Cap Value | 17 | 557 | $17,694 |
| 42 | UBG | UBS E-TRACS CMCI Gold TR ETN | 30 | 519 | $18,029 |
| 43 | DOD | ELEMENTS Dogs of the Dow Total Return ETN | 35 | 2,610 | $19,880 |
| 44 | VRD | SPDR Nuveen S&P VRDO Municipal Bond ETF | 12 | 695 | $20,811 |
| 45 | TZD | iShares S&P Target Date 2010 Index Fund | 23 | 719 | $21,541 |
| 46 | IPF | SPDR S&P International Financial | 27 | 1,110 | $21,625 |
| 47 | XRU | CurrencyShares Russian Ruble Shares | 23 | 714 | $23,035 |
| 48 | TZG | iShares S&P Target Date 2020 Index Fund | 23 | 767 | $23,684 |
| 49 | UWC | ProShares Ultra Russell3000 | 15 | 443 | $25,039 |
| 50 | AXFN | iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Financials | 8 | 1,081 | $25,227 |
| 51 | JEM | Barclays GEMS Currency Index ETN | 32 | 567 | $25,634 |
| 52 | EEN | Guggenheim EW Euro-Pacific LDRs ETF | 44 | 1,419 | $26,047 |
| 53 | DDP | PowerShares DB Commodity Short ETN | 30 | 700 | $26,396 |
| 54 | WMW | ELEMENTS Morningstar Wide Moat Focus ETN | 36 | 2,786 | $29,038 |
| 55 | TZE | iShares S&P Target Date 2015 Index Fund | 23 | 957 | $29,064 |
| 56 | IPU | SPDR S&P International Utilities | 27 | 1,467 | $30,258 |
| 57 | OTP | Guggenheim Ocean Tomo Patent ETF | 46 | 1,476 | $33,589 |
| 58 | IPW | SPDR S&P International Energy | 27 | 1,462 | $34,499 |
| 59 | WMCR | Wilshire Micro-Cap ETF (Guggenheim) | 49 | 2,290 | $34,642 |
| 60 | TLL | ProShares UltraShort Telecom | 31 | 3,078 | $34,686 |
| 61 | CHIB | Global X China Technology ETF | 10 | 2,176 | $34,730 |
| 62 | CHIE | Global X China Energy ETF | 10 | 2,381 | $35,046 |
| 63 | FDD | First Trust DJ STOXX European Select Div | 38 | 2,705 | $35,577 |
| 64 | TDD | TDX Independence 2010 | 37 | 1,581 | $37,168 |
| 65 | EMMT | iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Materials | 8 | 1,567 | $37,805 |
| 66 | BRIS | Direxion Daily BRIC Bear 2x | 7 | 1,133 | $38,983 |
| 67 | CRBI | Jefferies|TR/J CRB Global Ind Metals Equity | 11 | 1,010 | $39,217 |
| 68 | USV | UBS E-TRACS CMCI Silver TR ETN | 30 | 1,333 | $39,866 |
| 69 | PQBW | PowerShares Nasdaq 100 Buy/Write | 28 | 1,900 | $41,020 |
| 70 | PQSC | PowerShares FTSE Nasdaq Small Cap | 30 | 1,862 | $41,835 |
| 71 | TZI | iShares S&P Target Date 2025 Index Fund | 23 | 1,371 | $42,304 |
| 72 | FUD | UBS E-TRACS CMCI Food TR ETN | 30 | 1,781 | $42,437 |
| 73 | PTRP | PowerShares Global Progressive Transport. | 25 | 1,562 | $43,201 |
| 74 | AGF | PowerShares DB Agriculture Long ETN | 30 | 2,548 | $43,510 |
| 75 | RWG | Grail RP Focused Large Cap Growth ETF | 12 | 1,552 | $43,688 |
| 76 | UBD | Claymore U.S. Capital Markets Bond | 32 | 843 | $44,851 |
| 77 | ADRU | BLDRS Europe 100 ADR | 96 | 2,262 | $45,067 |
| 78 | PFI | PowerShares Dynamic Financials | 48 | 2,638 | $45,114 |
| 79 | IFEU | iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Europe | 35 | 1,614 | $45,584 |
| 80 | ROI | WisdomTree LargeCap Growth | 22 | 1,414 | $45,868 |
| 81 | PSTL | PowerShares Global Steel Portfolio | 25 | 2,248 | $45,925 |
| 82 | PTO | PowerShares Ibbotson Alternative Completion | 29 | 4,267 | $47,420 |
| 83 | PJO | PowerShares FTSE RAFI Japan | 40 | 1,295 | $47,802 |
| 84 | URR | Market Vectors Double Long Euro ETN | 29 | 1,675 | $48,168 |
| 85 | JJE | iPath DJ-UBS Energy ETN | 36 | 2,362 | $49,648 |
| 86 | XGC | Guggenheim International Small Cap LDRs | 43 | 2,236 | $49,810 |
| 87 | ERO | iPath EUR/USD Exchange Rate ETN | 41 | 971 | $49,817 |
| 88 | EMFN | iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Financials | 8 | 1,886 | $50,714 |
| 89 | EZY | WisdomTree Large Cap Value | 44 | 1,443 | $50,714 |
| 90 | PYH | PowerShares Morningstar StockInvestor Core | 47 | 2,757 | $50,752 |
| 91 | PJG | PowerShares Dynamic Mid Cap | 47 | 2,319 | $50,769 |
| 92 | RWV | RevenueShares Navellier Overall A-100 | 21 | 1,581 | $51,353 |
| 93 | TDV | TDX Independence 2040 | 37 | 2,836 | $51,873 |
| 94 | SZO | PowerShares DB Crude Oil Short ETN | 28 | 1,005 | $52,560 |
| 95 | PTE | PowerShares Dynamic Telecom & Wireless | 59 | 3,667 | $53,055 |
| 96 | BHH | HOLDRS B2B Internet ETF | 129 | 76,890 | $53,874 |
| 97 | WXSP | Wilshire 4500 Completion ETF (Guggenheim) | 7 | 2,176 | $54,917 |
| 98 | GSD | GlobalShares FTSE Dev Countries ex US | 8 | 2,071 | $54,922 |
| 99 | MUAE | iShares 2016 S&P AMT-Free Muni Series | 9 | 1,067 | $55,782 |
| 100 | PIQ | PowerShares Dynamic Magniquant | 48 | 2,757 | $57,291 |
| 101 | EGPT | Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF | 7 | 3,071 | $57,887 |
| 102 | TDX | TDX Independence In-Target | 37 | 2,320 | $58,459 |
| 103 | TZV | iShares S&P Target Date 2040 Index Fund | 23 | 1,948 | $60,229 |
| 104 | RYF | Rydex S&P Equal Weight Financial | 47 | 2,438 | $60,276 |
| 105 | EFO | ProShares Ultra MSCI EAFE | 16 | 876 | $62,021 |
| 106 | CRBA | Jefferies|TR/J CRB Global Agriculture Equity | 11 | 1,405 | $62,551 |
| 107 | PLTM | First Trust ISE Global Platinum Index Fund | 7 | 2,233 | $63,367 |
| 108 | EFN | EGS DJ Emerging Markets Financials Titans | 13 | 2,581 | $63,378 |
| 109 | JPX | ProShares UltraShort MSCI Pacific ex-Japan | 16 | 4,405 | $64,115 |
| 110 | PZJ | PowerShares Zacks Small Cap | 56 | 3,514 | $64,295 |
| 111 | BOS | PowerShares DB Base Metals Short ETN | 28 | 2,986 | $65,091 |
| 112 | EEO | EGS DJ Emerging Markets Energy Titans | 17 | 2,748 | $65,851 |
| 113 | FVI | First Trust Value Line Equity Allocation | 47 | 3,695 | $67,216 |
| 114 | ADZ | PowerShares DB Agriculture Short ETN | 30 | 2,271 | $67,357 |
| 115 | FAD | First Trust Multi Cap Growth AlphaDEX | 41 | 2,600 | $68,057 |
| 116 | DENT | AdvisorShares Dent Tactical ETF | 13 | 3,471 | $68,599 |
| 117 | PWP | PowerShares Dynamic Mid Cap Value | 68 | 4,929 | $70,531 |
| 118 | YXI | ProShares Short FTSE/Xinhua China | 7 | 1,543 | $71,094 |
| 119 | PQY | PowerShares Active AlphaQ | 30 | 2,914 | $71,759 |
| 120 | EVX | Market Vectors Environmental Services | 48 | 1,614 | $72,508 |
| 121 | UCI | UBS E-TRACS CMCI TR ETN | 30 | 3,810 | $75,569 |
| 122 | UVG | ProShares Ultra Russell 1000 Value | 44 | 3,255 | $76,567 |
| 123 | DBN | WisdomTree International Basic Materials | 48 | 2,924 | $78,067 |
| 124 | DEE | PowerShares DB Commodity Dbl Short ETN | 30 | 1,595 | $78,154 |
| 125 | PEZ | PowerShares Dynamic Cons Discretionary | 48 | 3,676 | $79,291 |
| 126 | PKN | PowerShares Global Nuclear Energy | 30 | 4,333 | $81,558 |
| 127 | NUCL | iShares S&P Global Nuclear Energy | 28 | 2,114 | $82,828 |
| 128 | GCE | Claymore CEF Index GS Connect ETN | 34 | 4,914 | $82,866 |
| 129 | SDP | ProShares UltraShort Utilities | 45 | 4,752 | $83,864 |
| 130 | RXD | ProShares UltraShort Healthcare | 45 | 2,514 | $85,287 |
| 131 | RHS | Rydex S&P Equal Weight Cons Staples | 47 | 1,633 | $86,948 |
| 132 | TGR | iShares S&P Target Date Retirement Inc. | 23 | 3,052 | $87,829 |
| 133 | TDH | TDX Independence 2020 | 37 | 4,113 | $88,335 |
| 134 | PJB | PowerShares Dynamic Banking | 48 | 7,600 | $88,450 |
| 135 | SMK | ProShares UltraShort MSCI Mexico | 16 | 4,452 | $90,945 |
| 136 | QCLN | First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge US Liquid | 44 | 6,252 | $91,449 |
| 137 | IRY | SPDR S&P International Health Care | 27 | 3,186 | $91,638 |
| 138 | ELR | SPDR Dow Jones Large Cap | 59 | 1,767 | $92,583 |
| 139 | TDN | TDX Independence 2030 | 37 | 4,938 | $93,391 |
| 140 | JFT | KEYnotes FT Enhanced 130/30 Large Cap ETN | 29 | 3,162 | $94,425 |
| 141 | PWND | PowerShares Global Wind Energy | 27 | 9,400 | $95,862 |
| 142 | MUAD | iShares 2015 S&P AMT-Free Muni Series | 9 | 1,824 | $96,365 |
| 143 | MUAC | iShares 2014 S&P AMT-Free Muni Series | 9 | 1,867 | $96,782 |
| 144 | SZR | WisdomTree Dreyfus S. African Rand | 28 | 3,186 | $96,946 |
| 145 | BRIL | Direxion Daily BRIC Bull 2x | 7 | 2,557 | $97,641 |
| 146 | FDV | First Trust Strategic Value | 51 | 4,781 | $97,698 |
| 147 | PTJ | PowerShares Dynamic Healthcare Services | 48 | 4,914 | $97,944 |
| 148 | RYE | Rydex S&P Equal Weight Energy | 47 | 2,005 | $98,160 |
| 149 | AGA | PowerShares DB Agriculture Dbl Short ETN | 30 | 3,314 | $99,535 |
Past issues of ETF Deathwatch are available here.
Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher: No positions in any of the securities mentioned. No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned. No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by tom brakke, Ron Rowland. Ron Rowland said: ETF Deathwatch for October 2010 – list of 149 ETFs/ETNs in danger of closing. http://bit.ly/cqXzcV #etf #mkt #deathwatch [...]
[...] The October ETF Deathwatch is up. (Invest With An Edge) [...]
The ETF death watch list is helpful . It. would be even more helpful if the ticker symbol would be alphabetasized.
I like to ask ::: If you are in an ETF and it gets delisted,( it dies) Is your money gone??? Does it go to 0 ??
Christine,
What typically happens is the sponsor announces a closure a couple of weeks in advance, giving you a chance to sell prior to the closure. If you are still holding shares after the last day of trading, then there is usually a liquidation process and your money is returned to you (your brokerage account) about a week later.
I always recommend that you sell your shares as soon as you learn of an impending closure and be sure to use a limit order. You should try to avoid the liquidation process because the fund may assess a closing fee.
I say “typically” and “usually” above because there is a least one example of a sponsor that delisted its funds but never liquidated them leaving shareholders with a huge obstacle to selling their shares and getting their money back.
Ron
Moshe,
You commented: “The ETF death watch list is helpful . It would be even more helpful if the ticker symbol would be alphabetized.”
I agree, and encourage Ron Rowland to have his techie change the display to permit sorting by column.
In the interim, you can highlight the list, copy and paste into a spreadsheet program. I use Excel and it worked for me. I manage my family portfolio and it’s a relatively large lump of investments. To spread the risk, I’m using Vanguard ETFs and — so far — I’m pleased with their performance. So I wanted to see if any of my Vanguard ETFs made the ETF Deathwatch.
Glad to find none on the list and look forward to Ron’s observations in the future.
Dave (a new subscriber)