A Look Ahead: Next Week's ETFs to Watch (IYW, XLE, UGA)

A spate of cautionary economic data combined with a plethora of earnings reports that did nothing to excite investors led to a lethargic week of action for U.S. equities. Of course, Europe played a heavy hand in the glum results for stocks as well. The iShares MSCI France Index Fund EWQ was punished as traders speculated the Euro Zone's second-largest economy is headed for a credit rating downgrade. Despite a 2.1% gain on Friday, the iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund EWP is still down more than 7% in the past week and the poor iShares MSCI Italy Index Fund EWI really isn't all that far removed from its 52-week low. All of the aforementioned would be valid trades, but we have others in mind, including some funds with significant exposure to momentum stocks that report earnings next week. Energy Select Sector SPDR XLE Next week is absolutely crucial on the earnings front when it comes to XLE. On Monday, ConocoPhillips COP reports first-quarter results. Then Exxon Mobil XOM and Occidental Petroleum OXY step into the earnings confessional on Thursday. Chevron CVX wraps the earnings updates from the major U.S. integrateds on Friday. Those four stocks combine for about 43% of XLE's weight. That's kind of a big deal. PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio PNQI PNQI is an excellent idea for getting basket exposure to momentum stocks but that idea only works in overtly favorable market conditions, not the mediocrity investors have had to contend with recently. PNQI will be put to the test next week due to earnings reports from Baidu BIDU on Tuesday and Amazon AMZN on Thursday. Those two combine for 16.4% of PNQI's weight. Industrial Select Sector SPDR XLI The Industrial Select Sector SPDR has been holding up fairly well lately and it looks support is firm at $36 in the event of a deeper broader market pullback. However, XLI isn't just a technical play, it's an earnings play next week. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, four of XLI-s top-10 constituents report. Dow components United Technologies UTX, Caterpillar CAT, 3M MMM and Boeing BA represent over 19.5% of XLI's weight. United States Gasoline Fund UGA Uggh, UGA has been ugly since the start of April, falling about 7%, but that's music to the ears of U.S. drivers that have been getting squeezed at the pump. UGA is one long ETF that when it falls actually signals good things for the broader market. It's technically vulnerable now, having given up its 20- and 50-day moving averages. iShares Dow Jones US Technology Index Fund IYW Or the PowerShares QQQ QQQ, Technology Select Sector SPDR XLK and the Focus Morningstar Technology ETF FTQ and that's just to a name a few ETFs with large weights to a little stock named Apple AAPL. The iPad maker reports earnings after the close Tuesday. Yeah, that will be kind of important. Follow me on Twitter: @ETFProfessor1