Top ETFs of the Last Month: Leveraged Short Oil, Junk Bonds

The market rebound, whether a joyous celebration of a new year or something that might last awhile, is certainly changing the landscape for stock and bond investors.

As we noted in December, leveraged exchange-traded funds dominated top performers in 2008. (See story here.)

Many of those types of portfolios are still leading the pack today. But in the past month, the field has become a lot more diverse in terms of the top 20 performers. For example, the UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China 25 ProShare ETF (NYSE: FXP) had gained more than 22% in that period heading into Wednesday, according to Morningstar.

But the top gainer has been the PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN (NYSE: DTO). It was up nearly 34% in 2008. Other notable leading leveraged performers in the past month include a pair of exchange-traded notes. Those are: the PowerShares DB Base Metals Double Long ETN (NYSE: BDD), up almost 20%; the PowerShares DB Crude Oil Short ETN (NYSE: SZO), up more than 17.3%.

But unlike in 2008, the new year is starting out with several new asset classes and possibilities in terms of potential market leadership (if you can call it that at this point).

No. 2 in the one-month screen of top performers is the HealthShares Drug Discovery Tools ETF (NYSE: HHV). It was up more than 28% during that 30-day period. And another member of the same family, the HealthShares Cancer ETF (NYSE: HHK) was generating a better-than 17% return.

But the list is heavy on bond funds, especially last year's hard-hit junk category.

How does that list compare to a longer-term view? Going back even three months reverts to an almost identical chart of top performers as produced at the end of 2008.

So while such a short, one-month snapshot might not be investable yet, below is the latest chart for consideration going forward.

Total Returns: Top 20 ETF & ETN Performers In Past 30 Days

Name	Ticker	1-Mnth (%)	3-Mnth (%)	12-Mnth (%)
PowerShares Crude Oil Dbl Short	DTO	33.8	187.7	N/A
HealthShares Drug Discovery	HHV	28.7	-20.3	-27.13
SPDR Lehman High Yield Bond	JNK	23.2	6.6	-21.3
UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China	FXP	22.2	-51.8	-41.7
PowerShares High Yield Corp.	PHB	21.5	2.4	-25.3
PowerShares Financial Preferred	PGF	20.8	17.8	-29.8
NETS FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index	JNB	20.5	4.9	N/A
PowerShares Metals Dbl Long	BDD	19.9	-50.4	N/A
Market Vectors Long Muni	MLN	18.9	9.9	-12.9
iShares iBoxx High Yield Corp.	HYG	18.6	3.1	-14.2
HealthShares Cancer	HHK	17.9	-19.6	-24.1
Elements Large Cap ETN	BVL	17.5	-4.2	N/A
iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock	PFF	17.5	20.1	-25.6
PowerShares Crude Oil Short ETN	SZO	17.3	78.7	N/A
iPath DJ AIG Lead Sub-Index ETN	LD	17.2	-24.9	N/A
Elements Grains Index ETN	GRU	15.5	-4.08	N/A
iShares MSCI Chile Investable Mkt	ECH	14.9	8.9	-30.9
Market Vectors Intermediate Muni	ITM	14.6	12.9	2.4
SPA MarketGrader Small Cap 100	SSK	14.5	-9.67	-36.9

Source: Morningstar Inc., fund companies *= data through Dec. 13, 2009