First Trust Developed Markets ex-US Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ: FDTS)

First Trust Developed Markets ex-US Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FDTS), Trade Ideas

First Trust Developed Markets ex-US Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund

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52-Week Low? There&#39;s A New ETF For That (YMLP, FDTS, SLVP)

Among the flurry of new exchange-traded products to come to market in 2012 (approximately 150) a fair amount of ETFs offering exposure to small-cap equities have debuted. Some offer fresh ways to play stocks with small market values while others are <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/01/2258235/trio-of-emerging-markets-small-cap-etfs-debut-today">new versions of funds that previously failed</a>.

Several of these new small-cap funds have already joined an interesting club in the ETF universe. Meaning these rookie ETFs share the dichotomy of low assets under management totals <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/09/2928107/some-low-aum-etfs-thriving-in-september">and strong performance</a>.

Perhaps it has been a tumultuous market environment that has hampered inflows to these ETFs, but that theory belies the impressive gains these funds have offered. In fact, some of the following funds have outperformed the $17.7 billion iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/iwm#NYSE">IWM</a>) since coming to market. 

iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index Fund (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/axjs#NASDAQ">AXJS</a>)

Home to a whopping 707 stocks, the Shares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index Fund debuted in early February, but the fund has toiled in anonymity. Currently, AXJS has just $2.8 million in AUM, but that does not mean this is not a good product. 

AXJS has lagged behind IWM, though it that is not surprising as global investors have preferred U.S. equities this year. Still, the ETF is up almost eight percent in the past three months. With the Asia ex-Japan focus, AXJS country lineup is predictable as Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China combine for almost two-thirds of the fund's weight.

SPDR S&amp;P Small Cap Emerging Asia Pacific ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gmfs#NYSE">GMFS</a>)
The SPDR S&amp;P Small Cap Emerging Asia Pacific ETF is perhaps a microcosm of just how hard it is for new ETFs to gain traction with investors. GMFS obviously has the benefit of hailing from a large sponsor and the concept itself is unique. Simply put, this is a more emerging markets version of AXJS.

That also means that since Taiwan and China have plenty of small-caps to offer up, the two nations combine for over 64 percent of the ETF's weight. Not many folks have heard of GMFS, so that probably means they do not know the fund only has $2.2 million in AUM. That also means they do not that since its debut, GMFS has beaten IWM by almost 150 basis points.

iShares MSCI Singapore Small Cap Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ewss#NYSE">EWSS</a>)

Singapore is a developed market and one of Asia's financial capitals, but EWSS has struggled to step out of the shadow of the $1.5 billion iShares MSCI Singapore Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ews#NYSE">EWS</a>). Maybe investors have not yet developed a taste for Singaporean small-caps or maybe they just do not want another Singapore ETF with an obscene weight to financials (EWSS devotes 54.3 percent to the sector.)

Whatever the reason is for the struggles of EWSS, the ETF has just $3.3 million in AUM. That does not change the fact that since its January debut, EWSS has offered more than triple the returns of IWM. EWSS is up 28.4 percent since coming to market, indicating investors have thus far missed a good thing with this ETF.

PowerShares DWA SmallCap Technical Leaders Portfolio (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dwas#NYSE">DWAS</a>)

DWAS is the newest of several PowerShares ETFs to employ Dorsey Wright relative strength selection methodology. It is also the largest of the funds on this list with $11.9 million in AUM, a solid total for an ETF that is barely more than two months old.

DWAS is home to just 200 stocks, making it much smaller than IWM and the iShares S&amp;P SmallCap 600 Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ijr#NYSE">IJR</a>). However, DWAS might be proving that the relative strength methodology behind the fund works and that investors do not need to gorge on a huge number of small-caps to find a good small-cap ETF. 

In the past two months, DWAS has easily outperformed IJR and IWM and has done so with a much lower price-to-earnings ratio than IJR's.

First Trust Developed Markets Ex-US Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fdts#NYSE">FDTS</a>)

The First Trust Developed Markets Ex-US Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund is another example of an ETF that uses an interesting screening methodology. 

In the case of FDTS, its index is constructed by "ranking the eligible small cap stocks from the S&amp;P Developed Markets ex-US BMI universe on growth factors including 3-, 6- and 12-month price appreciation, sales to price and one year sales growth, and separately on value factors including book value to price, cash flow to price and return on assets. All stocks are ranked on the sum of ranks for the growth factors and, separately, all stocks are ranked on the sum of ranks for the value factors,"<a href="http://www.ftportfolios.com/Retail/Etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FDTS">according to First Trust</a>.

The fund's name might lead investors to believe it offers to a lot of developed markets. In reality, FDTS has a country roster of just 10 and the lineup is dominated by Japan and South Korea. That pair represents over 46 percent of the ETF's weight.

With nearly $2.9 million in AUM, FDTS has fallen since its debut, but is up over the past 90 days. In the past month, FDTS has offered more than double the returns of IWM and more than triple the gains posted by IJR.

For more on ETFs, click <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/etfs">here</a>.

As the exchange-traded products industry has continued to boom (there are now almost 1,460 ETFs and ETNs listed in the U.S. with over $1.2 trillion in AUM), the number of so-called style funds has surged as well.

By definition, a style ETF is one that focuses on value or growth stocks, large-, mid- or small-caps or a blend of the various traits we just mentioned. Well-known examples include the $3.8 billion iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/iwo#NYSE">IWO</a>) and the SPDR S&amp;P 500 Growth ETF (NYSE: SPYG), which has almost $230 million in AUM.

Obviously, those are domestic funds. There are plenty of global style funds that may not command a lot of headlines, but are worthy of investors' attention. Here are some your broker probably neglected to tell you about.

WisdomTree International MidCap Dividend Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dim#NYSE">DIM</a>)
DIM is the epitome of a style play, rolling dividend-paying global mid-caps into one fund. DIM may not get a lot of attention, but the fund is almost six-years old and has nearly $103 million in AUM. Up more than 8% year-to-date, DIM does have some issues to consider before jumping.

First, industrials, financials and consumer discretionary names account for over 58% of the fund's weight. Second, Japan and the U.K. combine for over 40% of the DIM's country weight. Third, the rest of DIM's country allocations include nine Euro Zone members and all of the PIIGS except Greece. On second thought, maybe it's not a bad thing that DIM has been somewhat anonymous up to this point.

iShares MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/scz#NYSE">SCZ</a>)
Proper style ETFs have specific niches, whether be small-cap value, large-cap growth, etc. That's the case with SCZ, which obviously focuses on EAFE small-caps. As we recently noted, the <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/05/2547232/3-eafe-etfs-your-broker-forgot-to-mention-efa-dwm-efav">EAFE investment theme has its merits, but not all of these ETFs make the grade</a>.

Considering that SCZ will celebrate its fifth birthday later this year and that it's home to nearly $1.5 billion in AUM, the ETF doesn't garner much press. However, a 13% year-to-date gain is solid when acknowledging more than 48% of SCZ's weight goes to Japan and the U.K. 

That creates an interesting situation going forward for SCZ. Will global investors view Japanese and U.K. small-caps as value opportunities or will the macro headwinds facing both nations chase investors to other global markets? How that question is answered will figure prominently in SCZ's 2012 performance.

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/efg#NYSE">EFG</a>)
This is another prime example of EAFE style that has been around a while (almost seven years), is large ($1.2 billion in AUM) and doesn't grab much press. EFG does share something in common with many of U.S.-focused ETFs that claim to be growth funds: Allocations that are heavy on sectors that extremely short on growth stocks.

EFG is up more than 10% year-to-date, but it's hard to get a growth feeling from a fund with an almost 20% allocation to staples stocks. Many of EFG's 555 holdings are high-quality, blue-chip names and legitimate bull cases can be made for top-10 holdings such as Nestle (PK: NSRGY) and BHP Billiton (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bhp#NYSE">BHP</a>), but those aren't really growth stocks.

First Trust Developed Markets Ex-US Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fdts#NYSE">FDTS</a>)
Not even three months old yet, FDTS is truly an under-the-radar global style ETF at this point. FDTS tracks the Defined Developed Markets Ex-US Small Cap Index, which on growth factors including 3-, 6- and 12-month price appreciation, sales to price and one year sales growth, and separately on value factors including book value to price, cash flow to price and return on assets, according to First Trust.

The top 400 make the cut (FDTS is home to 406 names right now) are divided into quintiles based on their rankings and the top ranked quintiles receive a higher weight within the index. Japan and South Korea combine for over half of this ETF's country weight and FDTS is fairly diverse at the sector leve with four sectors – discretionary, industrials, materials and financials – receiving double-digit allocations. 

All of those points may be moot until FDTS starts trading on a regular basis. The idea here is nifty, but FDTS hasn't traded in nearly a month.

For more on undiscovered international ETFs, please click <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/05/2547232/3-eafe-etfs-your-broker-forgot-to-mention-efa-dwm-efav">HERE</a>.

Well, March has certainly lived up to its historical billing as a month the ends poorly for equities. Looking at the Stock Trader's Almanac, one will see that March 29 and 30 are typically down days for stocks. In the last trading day of March, the S&amp;P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average only close higher about 40% of the time.
All of that is to say it's not surprising that some <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/03/2450188/some-new-etfs-not-up-to-snuff-vegi-ymlp">new ETFs have been struggling</a>. However, there is struggling to gain attention and assets from investors and then there is struggling to perform well. 
New ETFs that are plagued by the second of those dilemmas have different reasons for being in that position, but the reality is there are now several new ETFs trading at their lowest levels since coming to market. Here are a few that earn that dubious distinction, a couple of which might be worth keeping an eye on as rebound plays.
Market Vectors Unconventional Oil &amp; Gas ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/frak#NYSE">FRAK</a>) 
Now six weeks old, the Market Vectors Unconventional Oil &amp; Gas ETF is not a case of a bad idea. Raking in almost $17 million in assets under management since its debut indicates FRAK is actually a <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/markets/bonds/12/03/2397619/new-kids-on-the-block-new-etfs-turning-heads-frak-perm-eden">pretty good idea</a>. 
The problem here is awful timing. Larger, more established energy ETFs such as the Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xle#NYSE">XLE</a>) and the SPDR S&amp;P Oil &amp; Gas Exploration &amp; Production ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xop#NYSE">XOP</a>) have been getting hammered lately, so there is just no way that FRAK was going to avoid that unfortunate series of events. Along those lines, FRAK would be one of the new ETFs worth considering as a buy on the dip candidate.
iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>) 
Sometimes, it's a good thing when an ETF offers an excessive <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/03/2447308/cheap-slice-of-apple-pie-these-etfs-have-it-aapl-ixn-qqqv">weight to just one stock</a>. More often than not, that stock is Apple (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#Nasdaq">AAPL</a>). Obviously, Apple doesn't mine silver.
Long story short, SLVP devotes almost 19% of its weight to Silver Wheaton (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slw#NYSE">SLW</a>), a stock that has plunged almost 19% in the past month. As of this writing, SLVP is trading one penny above its lowest price since the ETF's late January debut. It may not be saying much, but the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>) has outperformed SLVP this month.
First Trust Developed Markets Ex-US Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fdts#NYSE">FDTS</a>) 
The First Trust Developed Markets Ex-US Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund is a curious case not only because of its slack performance, but because near as we can tell, the ETF hasn't traded in a while. Yahoo Finance indicates the last quote for this ETF was on March 14. 
That's a shame because given the way emerging markets are acting at the moment, developed market ETFs could benefit as investors look global alternatives. The last quote on FDTS is $30.44, the lowest price for the fund since its February 15 debut.
Yorkville High Income MLP ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ymlp#NYSE">YMLP</a>) 
To be sure, investors have loved MLPs for several years and the exchange-traded products industry has taken advantage of that trend. For the most part, providers have offered ETNs tracking MLPs as the Yorkville High Income MLP ETF is just the second ETF devoted to this high-yielding asset class.
As we noted earlier this week, YMLP and its rival, the ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/amlp#NYSE">AMLP</a>), are two ETFs that do NOT have C-corp. Structure and that's bad for investors in these funds because it raises their costs. To add insult to injury, YMLP is down almost 3% since its debut and is now trading at its lowest point since its mid-March debut.

52-Week Low? There's A New ETF For That (YMLP, FDTS, SLVP)

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