Analyst/ETF Trader Paul Weisbruch of Street One Financial brings us his daily fund flows update, which today sees a general lack of options and flow activity as we hit the dog days of summer, although some outflows are starting to hit a popular small cap fund.
ETF/Index options trading was fairly uneventful yesterday and into today’s early session, as most of the activity in recent days has involved “Weekly” options in SPY in the midst of earnings season and an environment of “Low VIX/New All-Time SPX Highs” seemingly day after day.
Speaking of “Volatility,” VXX and UVXY, for instance, yet again traded at new all-time lows just yesterday before a small pop this morning. In spite of the continued “new all-time low” trading in both of these funds, year-to-date VXX has reeled in over $480 million in creations while UVXY has pulled in more than $245 million in its own right — although very recently over $230 million left the fund.
Elsewhere, even though Small Caps were among the best performers, we have still seen some position trimming in the short term, with more than $1.3 billion leaving IWM via redemption pressure. Perhaps some investors and fund managers are booking gains there in anticipation of possible weakness among smaller companies here.
The IWM was trading at $142.90 per share on Thursday morning, down $0.2 (-0.14%). Year-to-date, IWM has gained 6.73%, versus a 11.47% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
IWM currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #1 of 36 ETFs in the Small Cap Blend ETFs category.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is excerpted from a daily newsletter from Street One Financial. While ETF Daily News may edit the contents and add a relevant title to the piece, the author, Paul Weisbruch, does not endorse or recommend any issuer or security mentioned herein.
About the Author:
Paul Weisbruch is the VP of ETF/Options Sales and Trading at Street One Financial. Prior to joining the team at Street One, Paul served as the Director of RIA and Institutional ETF Sales at RevenueShares ETFs from December 2007 until November of 2009. Before RevenueShares, Paul was employed by Susquehanna International Group from 2000 until 2007 serving in roles including OTC/NYSE Institutional Block Trading, Nasdaq/OTC Market Making, ETF/Derivatives Intelligence and Strategy, Algorithmic Trading, as well as acting as the PHLX Floor Specialist in the ETFs, SPY and DIA.Paul has been actively involved in the ETF space from both a product and trading standpoint since 2000. Additionally, Paul has well forged relationships with national RIAs, institutional pension fund managers and consultants, mutual fund and hedge fund managers, and also the ETF media. Co-authoring the “S1F ETF Daily” since 2009, the daily piece has become a must for many portfolio managers in the ETF space, with segments regularly appearing in the likes of Barron’s, WSJ, and ETFTrends.com for instance.
He holds his Series 4 (Registered Options Principal), 6, 7, 55 (Equity Trader), 63, and 65 licenses. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh (B.S. – Economics), graduating magna cum laude, and has an MBA from Villanova University.