ETF Fund Flows (Week Ending 5/9/08)

By Matthew Hougan

Investors yanked $6.54 billion out of the ETF industry last week, due to large-scale pullbacks in the two S&P 500 ETFs (SPY and IVV) and additional major withdrawals from the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), among others. As usual, the number of creations outnumbered the number of redemptions, 163 to 83. But the size of the withdrawals was much larger, and that tipped the balance.

Largest Creation Value

Energy dominated the list of funds with large-scale creation activity, with the Select Sector SPDR - Energy ETF (XLE) leading the pack with $1.5 billion in net creations. Also pulling in significant assets were the ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas (DUG), the Oil Services HOLDRS (OIH), the MACROShares Oil Up ETF (UCR) and the United States Oil Fund (USO).

Beyond the energy patch, alternative assets did well, with the streetTRACKS Gold Trust (GLD) landing a third-place slot on the list and the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) posting gains as well.

International funds also did well, with Brazil (EWZ), China (FXI), Latin America (ILF) and the broad-based Emerging Markets (VWO) all notching gains.

ETF Creation Activity - Week Ending May 9, 2008
Fund	Ticker	Total Assets	Creation Value
Select Sector SPDR-Energy	XLE	6,896,250,592	1,505,739,000
iShares MSCI-Brazil	EWZ	8,895,151,500	506,715,000
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25	FXI	7,605,677,500	339,746,000
streetTRACKS Gold Trust	GLD	16,623,360,000	285,120,000
iShares S&P Latin America 40 Index	ILF	4,331,736,000	226,496,000
Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF	VWO	7,277,466,265	193,976,187
iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund	TLT	1,784,606,000	137,985,000
ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas	DUG	1,529,347,500	129,829,500
iShares Russell MidCap	IWR	3,699,675,000	126,875,000
Oil Services HOLDRS	OIH	2,558,353,786	121,100,850
MACROshares Oil Up Tradeable Shares	UCR	539,865,000	117,970,500
United States Oil Fund LP	USO	620,000,000	110,000,000
PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund	UUP	456,800,000	109,632,000
ProShares Ultra Financials	UYG	1,009,320,000	106,755,000
Vanguard Total Market ETF	VTI	10,664,979,164	106,363,387
Select sector SPDR-Technology	XLK	3,256,098,404	98,480,000
iShares DJ US Real Estate	IYR	2,152,501,000	96,278,000
ProShares UltraShort QQQ	QID	1,590,174,000	96,192,000
Claymore/BNY BRIC ETF	EEB	1,213,436,952	93,957,500
iShares MSCI-Italy	EWI	285,571,500	93,630,000

Largest Redemption Value

On the flip side, investors pulled major assets out of some of the largest ETFS, starting with the $3.5 billion drawdown in the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY).

The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) lost $2.8 billion, while the iShares S&P 500 (IVV) and iShares Lehman 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund (SHY) lost $994 million and $899 million, respectively.

ETF Redemption Activity - Week Ending May 9, 2008
Fund	Ticker	Total Assets	Redemption Value
S&P 500 SPDR	SPY	73,289,138,550	(3,530,960,000)
iShares Russell 2000	IWM	7,741,118,000	(2,796,999,500)
iShares S&P 500	IVV	18,179,788,000	(994,426,000)
iShares Lehman 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund	SHY	9,080,393,000	(898,884,000)
S&P 400 MidCap SPDR	MDY	8,334,071,330	(666,731,910)
PowerShares QQQ Trust	QQQQ	17,684,685,000	(614,805,000)
DJIA DIAMONDS	DIA	8,804,268,440	(386,070,000)
Select Sector SPDR-Materials	XLB	1,635,536,973	(304,842,000)
iShares MSCI-EAFE	EFA	47,680,380,000	(276,408,000)
iShares MSCI-Mexico	EWW	1,445,708,000	(209,090,000)
iShares Russell 1000	IWB	3,737,427,000	(198,718,000)
KBW Bank ETF	KBE	571,259,722	(185,702,000)
Select Sector SPDR-Industrial	XLI	1,591,656,619	(133,066,500)
iShares MSCI-Germany	EWG	1,901,787,000	(119,484,000)
iShares S&P GSTI Semiconductor Index	IGW	264,005,000	(108,381,000)
iShares MSCI-U.K.	EWU	1,063,848,000	(107,318,000)
iShares MSCI-Australia	EWA	1,468,928,000	(103,284,000)
ProShares UltraShort Financials	SKF	2,134,623,000	(99,820,500)
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF	XME	380,198,000	(91,916,000)
Select Sector SPDR-Consumer Staples	XLP	2,299,364,631	(85,461,000)

Comments

[Kunst]

Sure looks like forces gathering for a downturn.