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Wall Street had a tumultuous last week as growing inflation fears and rising geopolitical tensions continued to weigh on investors’ sentiment. The S&P 500 dropped 3%, marking the third consecutive weekly loss and the longest losing streak since September. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 5.5%, representing the fourth straight week of losses and the longest losing streak since December 2022. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones eked out a gain of 0.01% for the week.Most notably, the craze for the technology sector faded, with the tech stocks in the S&P 500 broadly losing 7.3% last week, representing their worst performance since March 2020. While most of the segments suffered losses last week, a few niche corners have performed really well. AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund (BTAL – Free Report), Global X Interest Rate Hedge ETF (RATE – Free Report), Goose Hollow Enhanced Equity ETF (GHEE – Free Report), Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF (PFIX – Free Report) and Core Alternative ETF (CCOR – Free Report) ended the week in the green. These funds do not target a particular sector. Instead, they focus on some investment strategies or any other objective. The bouts of strong economic data have lowered expectations for rate cuts in the first half of this year. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled that persistently elevated inflation will likely delay any interest rate cuts until later this year, opening the door for a period of higher-for-longer rates. Higher interest rates will continue to keep borrowing costs up, thereby resulting in lower consumer spending and a decline in economic activities. This will decrease profitability across various segments.Further, the tensions in the Middle East intensified following Israel’s limited strike on Iran, heightening fears of a wider conflict in the volatile region.AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund (BTAL) – Up 4.8%AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund has the potential to generate positive returns regardless of the direction of the stock market as long as low-beta stocks outperform high-beta stocks. It invests primarily in long positions in low-beta U.S. equities and short positions in high-beta U.S. equities on a dollar-neutral basis within sectors.AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund has AUM of $251.7 million and an expense ratio of 0.45%. It trades in an average daily volume of 230,000 shares.Global X Interest Rate Hedge ETF (RATE) – Up 4.4%Global X Interest Rate Hedge ETF is an actively managed fund that seeks to provide a hedge against sharp increases in long-term U.S. interest rates and is expected to benefit during periods of market stress when interest rate volatility is elevated. It seeks to achieve its investment objective primarily by investing in long interest rate swap options and long positions in short-term U.S. Treasury securities.Global X Interest Rate Hedge ETF has amassed $2.2 million in its asset base and trades in average daily volume of 1,000 shares. It charges 50 bps in fees per year.Goose Hollow Enhanced Equity ETF (GHEE) – Up 4%Goose Hollow Enhanced Equity ETF seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in global equities that are attractive. It invests in various ETFs, U.S. equities, foreign equity via ADRs, and Options & Futures, the combination of which varies from time to time, both with respect to types of securities and markets in response to changing market and economic trends.Goose Hollow Enhanced Equity ETF has accumulated $3.3 million in its asset base since its inception last November and charges 100 bps in annual fees. It trades in an average daily volume of 500 shares.Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF (PFIX) – Up 3.3%Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF seeks to hedge interest rate movements arising from rising long-term interest rates and looks to benefit from market stress when fixed income volatility increases.It holds a large position in over-the-counter (OTC) interest rate options intended to provide a direct and transparent convex exposure to large upward moves in interest rates and interest rate volatility.PFIX has amassed $161.7 million in its asset base and trades in an average daily volume of 121,000 shares. It charges 50 bps in annual fees.Core Alternative ETF (CCOR) – Up 2.7%The Core Alternative ETF is an actively managed ETF, which utilizes a combination of several strategies in aiming to produce capital appreciation while attempting to reduce risk exposure across market conditions. It invests in U.S. large-cap stocks and actively balances the downside risk with a highly disciplined “protective-put” options strategy. The Core Alternative ETF holds 45 securities in its basket and charges a high expense ratio of 1.07%.CCOR has amassed $154.8 million in its asset base and trades in a lower volume of 92,000 shares.More By This Author:Meta Platforms ETFs To Buy Ahead Of Q1 Earnings
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