ETF Fund Flows (Week Ending 12/28/07)

ETFs have become a key tool for traders and investors alike. In fact, many investors use fund flows in the ETF space to get a feel for where the big money is moving on Wall Street.

With this in mind, we've created a new report capturing the largest creation/redemption activity in the ETF space. The report will be published each Tuesday (Wednesday on holiday weeks).

Largest Net Creations

The Select Sector SPDR—Energy ETF (XLE) saw that largest creation activity for the week ending December 28, 2007, with $1.29 billion in new shares created—a sign that investors expect good things to continue for the energy patch in 2008.

The energy fund was followed by a handful of broad market ETFs, including the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM), the iShares MSCI EAFE (EFA) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM) ETFs.

Digging down further, two gold funds make it onto the top 20—the streetTRACKS Gold Trust (GLD) and the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX)—possibly in response to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan and the search for "safe haven" assets.

The iShares Nasdaq Biotech (IBB) and Vanguard Total Bond Market (BND) make somewhat surprising appearances on the list—both rank high in the top 20 despite relatively low net asset counts ($1.5 and 1.0 billion, respectively).

Top 20 ETFs By Creation Activity - Week Ending December 28, 2007
Fund	Ticker	Creations	Dollar Value
Select Sector SPDR-Energy	XLE	16,050,000	$1,288,000,000
iShares Russell 2000	IWM	16,250,000	$1,248,000,000
iShares MSCI-EAFE	EFA	9,000,000	$712,000,000
iShares MSCI-Emerging Markets	EEM	4,650,000	$708,000,000
Vanguard Total Market	VTI	4,221,000	$617,000,000
iShares Nasdaq Biotech	IBB	3,950,000	$324,000,000
streetTRACKS Gold Trust	GLD	3,400,000	$282,000,000
Vanguard Total Bond Market	BND	3,500,000	$267,000,000
DJIA DIAMONDS	DIA	1,850,000	$247,000,000
iShares Lehman 1-3 Year Treasury Bond	SHY	2,200,000	$180,000,000
iShares Russell 1000 Value	IWD	1,750,000	$142,000,000
Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF	GDX	2,250,000	$105,000,000
iShares Russell 1000	IWB	1,250,000	$101,000,000
SPDR S&P Retail ETF	XRT	2,600,000	$88,000,000
Vanguard Small-Cap ETF	VB	1,240,000	$85,000,000
PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy	PBW	2,500,000	$70,000,000
iShares Russell 2000 Value	IWN	900,000	$64,000,000
PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund	DBA	1,800,000	$59,000,000
Market Vectors--Agribusiness ETF	MOO	1,000,000	$57,000,000
S&P 400 MidCap SPDR	MDY	350,000	$55,000,000
Data from AMEX.

Largest Net Redemptions

In terms of net redemptions, investors pulled lots of money out of the two large S&P 500 ETFs last week. The S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) lost nearly $6 billion in redemption activity, while the iShares S&P 500 lost $1.8 billion.

The No. 3 fund on the list is the iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (DVY). That fund is trading at a 52-week low, and a likely explanation for the outflows is that investors were trying to harvest their losses in the fund before the end of 2007. Tax-loss selling is probably to blame for the pull-out in the KBW Regional Banking ETF (KRE), among others, as well.

Top 20 ETFs By Redemption Activity - Week Ending December 28, 2007
Fund	Ticker	Redemptions	Dollar Value
S&P 500 SPDR	SPY	(40,100,000)	($5,919,200,000.00)
iShares S&P 500	IVV	(12,300,000)	($1,818,700,000.00)
iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index	DVY	(11,800,000)	($767,500,000.00)
PowerShares QQQ Trust	QQQQ	(11,750,000)	($608,500,000.00)
Select Sector SPDR-Industrial	XLI	(6,350,000)	($250,200,000.00)
Select Sector SPDR-Health Care	XLV	(5,050,000)	($179,600,000.00)
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25	FXI	(800,000)	($137,800,000.00)
KBW Regional Banking	KRE	(3,600,000)	($132,800,000.00)
iShares Russell 2000 Growth	IWO	(1,550,000)	($131,000,000.00)
United States Oil Fund LP	USO	(1,500,000)	($114,100,000.00)
iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond	TLT	(1,200,000)	($110,900,000.00)
Vanguard Mid-Cap	VO	(1,298,000)	($98,800,000.00)
Select Sector SPDR-Materials	XLB	(2,350,000)	($98,700,000.00)
Ultra QQQ ProShares	QLD	(825,000)	($83,600,000.00)
iShares DJ US Real Estate	IYR	(1,200,000)	($78,600,000.00)
Vanguard Extended Market	VXF	(700,000)	($74,000,000.00)
Rydex S&P Equal Weight	RSP	(1,500,000)	($71,200,000.00)
iShares S&P MidCap 400/BARRA Value	IJJ	(650,000)	($52,100,000.00)
Select Sector SPDR-Financial	XLF	(1,500,000)	($43,400,000.00)
iShares S&P MidCap 400	IJH	(500,000)	($43,000,000.00)
Data from AMEX.

Comments

[CuriousGeorge III]

Do you have the same data for 2007?