Tag Archives: $JNJ

ETFs To Watch This Week Include ETFs Involved In Oil and The Yen

MarketsMuse blog update highlights the must watch ETFs for the first week of June. The ETFs range from health care, to oil, the Japanese Yen. This update is courtesy of the Benzinga’s author, David Fabian, and his article, “Healthcare, Yen And Oil ETFs To Watch This Week“, with an excerpt from the article below.

The summer months are often characterized by lower volume and heightened volatility, which seems to be a trend that has already established itself this year.

Several important events this week have the potential to impact the market including: personal spending, motor vehicle sales and non-farm payroll data.

Here are the key ETFs to watch for the week of June 1:

Health Care Select Sector SPDR XLV 0.25%

Healthcare stocks have continued to show tremendous strength this year and XLV has been one of the leading sector components of the S&P 500 Index. This ETF is made up of 57 large-cap stocks in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical services fields. Top holdings include well-known companies such as Johnson & Johnson JNJ 1% and Pfizer Inc PFE 0.9%.

CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust FXY 0.1%

After appearing to stabilize through the first four months of the year, the Japanese yen currency has once again plunged markedly lower versus the U.S. dollar in May. FXY tracks the daily price movement of the yen versus the U.S. dollar and is down 3.64 percent so far this year.

United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) USO 3.83%

Crude oil prices jumped 4 percent on Friday and managed to recoup the majority of the slide this commodity experienced in May. USO tracks the daily price movement of West Texas Intermediate Light Sweet Crude Oil futures and is the most heavily traded oil ETF.

To continue reading about why oil, the yen, and health care are must watch ETF categories according Benzinga reporter, David Fabian, click here.

 

Cancer Treatment ETF Surges In Past Few Days

MarketMuse update courtesy of extract from Todd Shriber’s latest piece at ETFTrends. 

ETFTrends-logoShares of Pharmacyclics (NasdaqGS: PCYC), a maker of cancer treatments, surged nearly 17% Wednesday, extending a run that has seen the stock surge 80.1% this year, on news that the California-based company is mulling a sale.

Citing unidentified sources, Bloombergreports that Dow component Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)and Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NYSE: NVS) could be among the suitors for Pharmacyclics. Multiple suitors for the company could prove to be a boon for the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSEArca: FBT), one of a scant number of exchange traded funds that have decent exposure toPharmacyclics.

Shares of FBT climbed 1.9% Wednesday on volume that was more than 25% above the three-month trailing average thanks in part to the ETF’s nearly 4.1% weight to Pharmacyclics. The stock was FBT’s third-largest holding as of Feb. 24, helping the ETF join 24 other healthcare funds among the 195 ETFs that hit all-time highs yesterday.

Where things get interesting for Pharmacyclics, and as a result, FBT, is how much of a premium a suitor will pay. Pharmacyclics closed Wednesday with a market value of $16.6 billion. Sources told Bloomberg the company could fetch $17 billion to $18 billion. The Financial Times reported Pharmacyclics could command $19 billion.

For the entire article from ETFtrends.com, please click here