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The Shares are designed for investors who want a cost-effective and convenient way to invest in a basket of Bullion with minimal credit risk.

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Despite strong performance post-Covid-19, long-term commodity returns remain near record lows, as per the bank. 

Amid Soaring Gold, Silver Prices, Bank of America Is Bullish On These 4 Promising Metal ETFs For Good Investment Returns

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5 Commodity ETFs To Watch When PPI Inflation Data Drops Wednesday

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abrdn Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF

In the wake of surging gold and silver prices, Bank of America has highlighted four exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that offer attractive exposure to precious metals.
What Happened: The top-ranked ETFs by BoFA include abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SIVR#NYSE">SIVR</a>), iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SLV#NYSE">SLV</a>), Invesco DB Precious Metals Fund (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/DBP#NYSE">DBP</a>), and abrdn Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GLTR#NYSE">GLTR</a>), CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/27/silver-vs-gold-bank-of-america-names-4-attractive-etfs.html">reported</a> on Sunday. These ETFs, rated as &#8220;more attractive&#8221; by Bank of America, encapsulate a range of precious metals such as silver, gold, palladium, and platinum.
Bank of America&#8217;s research suggests that a portfolio with 40% exposure to broad commodities would have outpaced a similar portfolio with U.S. Treasury bonds by 0.8% annually since 1945. Despite strong performance post-Covid-19, long-term commodity returns remain near record lows, as per the bank. However, Bank of America anticipates a reversion to the mean for commodities.
See Also: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/equities/24/05/39021107/donald-trump-floats-idea-of-bringing-back-adviser-peter-navarro-for-potential-second-term-despit?itm_source=parsely-api" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Donald Trump Floats Idea Of Bringing Back Adviser Peter Navarro For Potential Second Term Despite Prison</a>
Jared Woodard, the bank&#8217;s ETF strategist, stated, &#8220;Commodities are still at all-time lows relative to financial assets, and this ratio would likely move higher in a sustained shift to a 5% world.&#8221;
The abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF SIVR is the most cost-effective silver fund in Bank of America&#8217;s coverage, with a total expense ratio of 0.50%. The bank&#8217;s commodity team is also bullish on silver, predicting spot prices to hit $26.46 per ounce by the end of 2024, and $32.50 per ounce by the end of the next year.
Why It Matters: The spotlight on these ETFs comes at a time when investors are increasingly turning to precious metals. Investors were <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/etfs/sector-etfs/24/05/38710172/as-spot-gold-stalls-will-investors-turn-to-gold-miners-this-etf-looks-ready-to-break-out-and-off">looking at gold miners as spot gold</a> prices stalled. 
This trend was followed <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/24/05/38920684/silver-gold-and-copper-breakout-wall-streets-last-bear-throws-in-the-towel">by a breakout in silver, gold, and copper prices</a>. This shift was particularly notable for companies like Newmont (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NEM#NYSE">NEM</a>), which are integral to the precious metals supply chain.
Read Next: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/24/05/39014019/nvidia-tech-stocks-propel-nasdaq-100-to-record-high-solar-sector-shines-meme-stock-?itm_source=parsely-api" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nvidia, Tech Stocks Propel Nasdaq 100 To Record High; Solar Sector Shines, Meme Stock Bubble Bursts: This Week In The Market</a>
Image by Inozemtsev Konstantin via Shutterstock
This story was generated using <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/author/benzinga-neuro">Benzinga Neuro</a> and edited by <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/topic/Pooja-Rajkumari" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pooja Rajkumari</a>

Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation data for May, to be released on Wednesday, June 14, will set the stage for the highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting where <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/etfs/broad-u-s-equity-etfs/23/06/32833950/surprise-dip-in-may-inflation-raises-hopes-for-pause-in-fed-rate-hikes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interest rates will be determined.</a>
The market&#8217;s expectations of the Fed&#8217;s rate hikes coming to an end were solidified after Tuesday&#8217;s CPI report revealed a lower-than-expected decline in consumer inflation. 
The upcoming producer inflation data could provide additional evidence of a disinflationary trend, potentially swaying Fed members to reconsider the need for future interest rate increases.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Producer Price Inflation Preview: What Do Economists Expect?</h2>
<ul>
<li>Economists forecast that producer inflation in the U.S. could decrease to as low as 1.5% in May, down from April&#8217;s 2.3%, marking the lowest level since January 2021. This would extend the streak of 12 consecutive declines in producer price inflation.</li>
<li>Producer prices are also projected to fall significantly below their 10-year average of 2.7%.</li>
<li>Monthly estimates show a 0.1% reduction in producer prices, the second negative reading&nbsp;in 2023.</li>
<li>Core PPI, excluding energy and food, is predicted to fall from 3.2% in April to 2.9% in May, its lowest level since March 2021. The monthly core PPI is expected to stay unchanged at 0.2%.</li>
<li>Food (down 0.5%) and transportation and warehousing (down 1.7%) subindices experienced monthly contractions in April, with the latter seeing four consecutive months of decrease.</li>
</ul>
Chart: PPI Inflation Is Falling Off A Cliff 
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="819" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13120420/USPPIYY_2023-06-13_18-03-45_5f6b6-1024x819.png" alt="" class="wp-image-51373" srcset="https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13120420/USPPIYY_2023-06-13_18-03-45_5f6b6-1024x819.png 1024w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13120420/USPPIYY_2023-06-13_18-03-45_5f6b6-300x240.png 300w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13120420/USPPIYY_2023-06-13_18-03-45_5f6b6-768x614.png 768w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13120420/USPPIYY_2023-06-13_18-03-45_5f6b6.png 1468w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
Read Now: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/23/06/32838442/energy-driven-cpi-drop-in-may-contrasts-with-persistent-core-cpi-5-economists-specu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Energy-Driven CPI Drop In May Contrasts With Persistent Core CPI: 5 Economists Speculate On Fed&#8217;s Next Move</a>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Commodity Prices Tumbled in May, Putting Additional Downside&nbsp;Pressure To PPI: 5 Commodity ETFs To Watch</h2>
Global commodities prices fell across the board in May, as COVID-19-related supply chain disruption further&nbsp;vanished&nbsp;and China&#8217;s economic recovery moved slower than expected.
The iShares S&amp;P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GSG#NYSE">GSG</a>), an exchange-traded fund that provides broad exposure to a diversified basket of commodities, including energy, agriculture, industrial metals and precious metals, fell nearly 4% in May. GSG is 6% down year-to-date. 
The Invesco DB Agriculture Fund (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/DBA#NYSE">DBA</a>), an exchange-traded fund that invests in a basket of agricultural commodities such as corn, wheat, soybeans and sugar, eased 2.3% last month. DBA is 7% higher year-to-date
The United States Oil Fund (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/USO#NYSE">USO</a>), the largest exchange-traded fund investing in contracts on WTI crude oil and other oil-related derivatives, plummeted more than 10% last month. USO is 8.3% lower year to date. 
The Invesco DB Base Metals Fund (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/DBB#NYSE">DBB</a>), an exchange-traded fund that invests in a basket of industrial metals like copper, zinc, nickel, tin and aluminum, tumbled 7% last month. DBB is 5.9% weaker year to date. 
The Aberdeen Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GLTR#NYSE">GLTR</a>), which provides investors with exposure to a basket of precious metals, also fell 3.5% last month. GLTR is 0.9% up year-to-date. 
Other than physical commodities, sharp declines in freight costs were also observed in May, with the Baltic Dry Index, widely regarded as the most popular global shipping costs index, plummeting 39%. 
<figure class="wp-block-table"> 
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>ETF Name</th>
<th>Ticker</th>
<th>Commodity Type</th>
<th>% Change in May</th>
<th>% Change Year to Date</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>iShares S&amp;P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust</td>
<td>GSG</td>
<td>Broad basket of commodities</td>
<td>-4.0%</td>
<td>-6.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Invesco DB Agriculture Fund</td>
<td>DBA</td>
<td>Agricultural commodities</td>
<td>-2.3%</td>
<td>+7.0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>United States Oil Fund</td>
<td>USO</td>
<td>WTI crude oil and derivatives</td>
<td>-10.0%</td>
<td>-8.3%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Invesco DB Base Metals Fund</td>
<td>DBB</td>
<td>Industrial metals</td>
<td>-7.0%</td>
<td>-5.9%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Aberdeen Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF</td>
<td>GLTR</td>
<td>Basket of precious metals</td>
<td>-3.5%</td>
<td>+0.9%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</figure>
Chart: Commodity ETFs&#8217; Year-to-Date Performance
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="733" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13113643/GLTR_2023-06-13_17-36-05_3512c-1024x733.png" alt="" class="wp-image-51369" srcset="https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13113643/GLTR_2023-06-13_17-36-05_3512c-1024x733.png 1024w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13113643/GLTR_2023-06-13_17-36-05_3512c-300x215.png 300w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13113643/GLTR_2023-06-13_17-36-05_3512c-768x550.png 768w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13113643/GLTR_2023-06-13_17-36-05_3512c-1536x1099.png 1536w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/editorial.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/13113643/GLTR_2023-06-13_17-36-05_3512c.png 1724w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
Photo: Shutterstock

<ul>
<li>Inventories of aluminum, copper, nickel, and zinc, four of the main contracts traded on the London Metal Exchange, have plunged by up to 70% over the past year, as record power prices in Europe hit production and the Ukraine war threatened output from Russia,&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.ft.com/content/8172498a-30f4-4c37-a621-9571042be5ee" style="color:#4a6ee0; background:transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt" target="_blank">the Financial Times reports</a>.</li>
<li>Traders and big consumers have tapped warehouses for the material amid the booming demand as economies have recovered from pandemic lockdown restrictions and supply chain disruptions.</li>
<li>The trend was most evident in zinc, where prices rose 2.8% on April 12 to a 16-year high of almost $4,400 a tonne.</li>
<li>Since the start of April, available zinc stocks on the LME plunged 60,000 tonnes to a two-year low of just over 45,000 tonnes.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Analysts acknowledged that the soaring gas and power prices are behind the drawdown. They forced companies to curtail production at lossmaking zinc and aluminum smelters. Other reasons are production cuts and possible disruption of copper and nickel from Russia amid its war with Ukraine.</li>
<li>The&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/22/03/26272208/nickel-turmoil-saga-continues-with-another-15-limit-up-spike-on-lme-bloomberg" style="color:#4a6ee0; background:transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt" target="_blank">LME had to suspend trading in nickel</a>&nbsp;in March after a vicious short squeeze sent the price up by more than 250%.&nbsp;</li>
<li>The crisis could drive up the price of the LME as traders and producers seek to close short positions by repurchasing contracts.&nbsp;</li>
<li>An analyst saw the supply of refined copper to lag demand by 375,000 tonnes in 2022, double its previous estimate and large enough to deplete all visible stocks by December.</li>
<li>Photo by jannonivergall via Pixabay</li>
</ul>

Russia&#39;s invasion of Ukraine and resulting sanctions on Russia are putting pressure on several sectors including commodities. Two precious metals that could be affected by the global crisis are palladium and platinum.
What Happened: The U.S. and other countries are <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/government/22/02/25764301/biden-unveils-first-wave-of-sanctions-against-russia-promising-we-have-our-next-move-prepared">imposing sanctions</a> on Russia, which could impact exports out of the country across varying sectors.
Russia is the largest global producer of <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/best-palladium-stocks/">palladium </a>and the No. 2 producer of platinum, two metals that could be impacted by the Eastern European conflict.&nbsp;
Thirty-nine percent of the global refined supply of palladium comes from Russia, according to <a href="https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-02-22/Watch-palladium-gold-and-silver-prices-as-West-sanctions-Russia-in-response-to-Ukraine-crisis.html">Kitco</a>. The country also accounts for around 11% of global platinum supply.
Palladium is used by automotive manufacturers,&nbsp;in electronics and in jewelry. Platinum is the third most-traded precious metal in the world behind gold and silver and is also used for automotive and&nbsp;jewelry applications along with&nbsp;industrial and medical items.
Palladium was up nearly 7% to $2,648&nbsp;per ounce on Thursday. The metal started the year trading around $1,905 and is now up over 30% year-to-date.
Platinum was down more than 1% at $1,094&nbsp;and is up around 15% year-to-date.
Right now, exporters of metals in Russia have not been affected by sanctions, but that could change and the tensions could continue to increase the price of the metals.
The rising price and potential supply issues could hurt the already ailing automotive sector, which&nbsp;has seen supply issues with chips. Companies like General Motors Corp (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/gm#NYSE">GM</a>) and Ford Motor Co (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/f#NYSE">F</a>) are&nbsp;companies that could see price increases or supply constraints.
Palladium <a href="https://www.etftrends.com/palladium-etf-could-rally-in-2022/">hit </a>an all-time high of $3,017 an ounce in May 2021 before falling on production cuts from the auto industry.
Stocks: Many of the precious metals stocks trade over the counter&nbsp;or on international exchanges. The following are a few&nbsp;stocks on major exchanges that offer exposure to palladium and/or platinum.
Platinum Group Metals (AMEX: PLG) is the <a href="https://platinumgroupmetals.net/">operator </a>of the Waterberg Project, which has deposits of metals like palladium and platinum. The company has seen shares rise over the last two trading sessions with shares up 3.97% to $2.10 on Thursday.&nbsp;
Sibanye Stillwater (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/sbsw#NYSE">SBSW</a>) is a <a href="https://www.sibanyestillwater.com/">miner </a>of several minerals and among the largest producers of platinum and palladium in the world. The company reported 144,325 ounces of PGM (platinum group metals-platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium) <a href="https://thevault.exchange/?get_group_doc=245/1635420558-ssw-Q32021-operating-update-28Oct2021.pdf">produced </a>in the third quarter in its U.S. division and 500,073 ounces in its South African division. Shares of SBSW were up 2.7% to $17.87&nbsp;on Thursday.&nbsp;
A-Mark Precious Metals Inc (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/amrk#NASDAQ">AMRK</a>) is a precious metals company with operations across gold, silver, copper, platinum, palladium and other metals. A-Mark offers wholesale sales, secured lending and direct-to-consumer operations.
Related Link: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/government/22/02/25757480/15-stocks-to-watch-during-russia-ukraine-conflict">15 Stocks To watch During Russia, Ukraine Conflict&nbsp;</a>
ETFs: Several mining and metals ETFs&nbsp;offer exposure to palladium and platinum. Here are some investment options for those seeking exposure to the metals.
Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF&nbsp;(ARCA: PALL) has over $400 million in assets under management and is one of the largest holders of physical palladium. Shares of PALL were up 4.78% on Thursday, closing at $243.53.
Aberdeen also offers a pure-play platinum ETF with the Aberdeen Standard Physical Platinum Shares ETF (ARCA: PLPT). The ETF was launched in 2010 and has over $1.2 billion of assets under management.
The Sprott Physical Platinum &amp; Palladium Trust (ARCA: SPPP) <a href="https://www.sprott.com/investment-strategies/physical-bullion-trusts/platinum-and-palladium/#">invests </a>in physical palladium and platinum and offers exposure to both metals. The ETF was launched in 2012 and gives investors options to redeem their ETF units for physical metals if requirements are met.
The Aberdeen Standard Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF (ARCA: GLTR) is less of a pure-play on the two mentioned metals with exposure to gold, silver, palladium and platinum. The ETF could offer exposure to the two metals most affected by raising political tensions along with two metals that are considered hedges against inflation and market uncertainty.

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Why Traders Need To Watch Palladium And Platinum Stocks Right Now

The U.S. dollar is one of this year&#39;s most disappointing developed market currencies, but that is not helping the commodities complex. Most commodities, an asset class denominated in dollars, are sagging, but some precious metals have been notable exceptions.
Among exchange-traded products, the ETFS Gold Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sgol#NYSE">SGOL</a>) is up 9.4 percent year to date while the ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pall#NYSE">PALL</a>) is up a stunning 26.9 percent. Sturdy precious metals prices are helping the ETFS Precious Metals Baskets Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>) to a year-to-date gain of more than 8 percent.
<h3>All That Glitters ...</h3>
GLTR holds a basket of physical gold, silver, palladium and platinum.
&ldquo;Given this action in Precious Metals amid the FOMC rate backdrop, we are also looking at diversified &#39;Precious Metal&#39; ETPs that generally appeal to those investors and portfolio managers whom prefer &#39;basket&#39; exposure to the space as opposed to betting on specifically Gold or Silver for example,&rdquo; said <a href="http://streetonefinancial.com/">Street One Financial</a> Vice President Paul Weisbruch in a note out Wednesday.
<h3>Pondering Palladium</h3>
Although gold and silver loom large in GLTR, palladium, until this week, has been helping the ETF surge.
&ldquo;The background for palladium is for good industrial demand and likely a significant market deficit this year, and on top of course you&rsquo;ve got this speculative squeeze,&rdquo; Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler said, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-precious-idUSKBN1902H0">reported Reuters</a>.
Palladium supply is expected to be in a deficit again this year, which could help deliver more upside for PALL and GLTR.
&ldquo;Traders reported a reluctance to lend the metal, suggesting tightness in near-term supply. Chart patterns indicate that the metal is vulnerable to a sell-off from these elevated levels, however, technical analysts said,&rdquo; according to Reuters.
<h3>Macro Trends, Influences</h3>
While precious metals retreated Wednesday after the Federal Reserve boosted interest rates, inflation could portend more benefits for gold and friends.
As <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/17/05/9417254/a-surprise-friend-for-gold-etfs">Benzinga reported earlier this year</a>, &ldquo;Data suggests inflation is rising, which could bode well for gold ETFs because the yellow metal is often embraced as an inflation hedge. Accounting for inflation, real U.S. interest rates are in negative territory, further increasing the potential for out-performance by gold relative to other safe-haven assets.&rdquo;
Related Links:
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/17/06/9609279/fed-hikes-rates-without-disrupting-the-market-classic-yellen">Fed Hikes Rates Without Disrupting The Market: 'Classic Yellen'</a>
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/general/education/17/06/9608611/is-bitcoin-the-new-gold-still-too-early-to-say">Is Bitcoin The New Gold? Still Too Early To Say</a>

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SGOL

Revisiting An Overlooked Precious Metals ETF

There are at least two things that are clear this year regarding the commodities complex and its relevant exchange traded products. First, energy commodities are still in the dumps. Second, some other commodities and the corresponding ETFs, think precious metals, are rebounding in impressive fashion.

	&ldquo;As February comes to an end, so might be the <a href="http://www.indexologyblog.com/2016/01/03/the-commodity-catastrophe-of-2015/" target="_blank">commodity catastrophe</a>. &nbsp;Although the <a href="http://us.spindices.com/performance-overview/commodities/sp-gsci" target="_blank">S&amp;P GSCI Total Return</a> lost another 3.2% in the month (through Feb. 26, 2015,) bringing the year-to-date performance down to -8.2%, half of the 24 commodities in the index were positive for&nbsp;the month. Further, at least one commodity from each sector gained in February, and the majority of sectors, 3 of 5, were positive for&nbsp;the month,&rdquo; said S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices Global Head of Commodities and Real Assets Jodie Gunzberg <a href="http://www.indexologyblog.com/2016/02/28/ex-energy-commodities-are-up-in-2016/">in a new note</a>.&nbsp;

	Amid investors&#39; thirst for safe-haven assets, precious metals ETFs are leading the commodities complex higher. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>), the world&#39;s largest bullion-backed ETF is up 15.4 percent year-to-date and has hauled in $4.25 billion in new assets, making it this year&#39;s top asset-gathering ETF by a wide margin.

	For gold bugs, there is nothing wrong with safe-haven demand and 2016&#39;s market action is, to this pointing, reminding investors of gold&#39;s utility. In fact, gold has proven its mettle (no pun intended) during market crises ranging from the Soviet sovereign debt crisis to the Long Term Capital Management meltdown to the global financial crisis. The ETFS Physical PM Basket (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>), which holds a basket of physical gold, silver, palladium and platinum is getting on the act as well with a year-to-date gain <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/16/02/6333236/maybe-another-buying-opportunity-with-gold-etfs">of more than 10 percent</a>.

	While precious metals ETFs are soaring, the opposite is true of energy commodities funds. The United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ung#NYSE">UNG</a>) and the United States Oil Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/uso#NYSE">USO</a>) are down an average of 23.2 percent this year with little in the way of near-term catalysts to lift either fund.

	&ldquo;At the same time, the El Nino is harmful to the performance of natural gas. It&nbsp;was the worst performing commodity for the month with a loss of 24.3%, bringing the <a href="http://www.spindices.com/indices/commodities/sp-gsci-natural-gas" target="_blank">S&amp;P GSCI Natural Gas</a> to its lowest level on Feb. 25, 2016 since March 24, 1999, almost 17 years,&rdquo; adds Gunzberg.

	The ongoing tumble in natural gas prices continues luring<a href="http://www.benzinga.com/news/16/02/6483696/shorts-still-love-this-etfs-holdings"> short sellers to natural gas equities</a> while short interest has also increased in oil exploration and production names.

Short Ideas

Ex-Energy, Commodities ETFs Are Doing Alright

What were once gifts can become curses and what were once curses can become gifts. That is the scenario the once downtrodden, maligned iShares MSCI South Africa ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/eza#NYSE">EZA</a>).

	As has been <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/news/15/12/6014369/things-are-getting-interesting-for-this-etf-and-thats-not-good">previously noted in this space</a>, EZA was one of the worst-performing single-country emerging markets ETFs as precious metals prices tumbled. For example, EZA tumbled 26 percent last year, a decline that was nearly 1,000 basis points worse than the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. South Africa, Africa&#39;s second-largest economy behind Nigeria, entered 2016 vulnerable to losing its already tenuous grasp on its investment-grade credit rating.

	But over the past month, EZA is up just over 13 percent, outpacing the ETFS Physical PM Basket (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>) by nearly 400 basis points over that stretch. The ETFS Physical PM Basket is a relevant comparison because it offers access to physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
<h3>
	A Look At South Africa</h3>

	South Africa is a major gold producer, the world&#39;s largest platinum producer and second-largest palladium producer behind Russia.

	&quot;After a brutal 2015, South African gold miners are staging an impressive rally while average short interest across South African equities has been rising as the country faces rising inflation and a collapse of its currency. These developments come ahead of one of the most <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32de9170-d94f-11e5-98fd-06d75973fe09.html#axzz40tRNDFzt">anticipated government budgets</a> which the government hopes will restore investor confidence,&quot; said Markit <a href="http://www.markit.com/Commentary/Get/24022016-Equities-Gold-offers-silver-lining-to-South-African-investors">in a new note</a>.

	South Africa is the world&#39;s largest platinum-producing country and the second-largest palladium producer behind Russia. That is to say, although the materials sector is not a significant part of EZA, <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/15/10/5952997/a-pinch-for-palladium-platinum-etfs">price action</a> in those metals looms large for South African equities.

	Second, investors, to the extent that they can be, appear comfortable with the fact that South Africa could very well be the next emerging market to suffer a <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/15/10/5934918/this-emerging-markets-etf-could-have-to-endure-a-credit-downg">sovereign credit downgrade</a> at the hands of one of the major ratings agencies. Maybe Turkey will beat South Africa to that dubious punch, but a rating downgrade is still on the table for Africa&#39;s second-largest economy.

	For its part, EZA&#39;s materials weight is surprisingly light at 6.5 percent. Financial services and consumer discretionary stocks combine for nearly two-thirds of the ETF&#39;s weight.

	&quot;Average short interest across the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the TOP 40 index has increased by 13% and 24% to hit 1.5% and 0.9% of shares outstanding respectively year to date,&quot; said Markit. &quot;This trend is led by consumer related shares as short sellers trade the impact of the country&rsquo;s rising inflation and weakening economic growth. To this end consumer discretionary retailers have seen average short interest increase by 38% while consumer staples have seen demand to borrow rise by 35%.&quot;

Emerging Markets

Emerging Market ETFs

Precious Metals Rally Pumps Up South Africa ETF

Equity-based ETFs can be described as baskets of various stocks. Whether it is a broader market domestic fund, a sector ETF or an emerging markets equities play, the basket approach is used over and over again in the exchange-traded products universe. 

Noteworthy is the fact that as the exchange-traded products industry has evolved, so has issuers' use of the basket technique. The basket application that has proven so successful with equities is being used with other asset classes and some of those ETFs may not be getting the attention they deserve. 

With that in mind, here are a few non-equities basket ETFs that are worthy of further consideration in the current market environment.

PowerShares DB G10 Currency Harvest Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dbv#NYSE">DBV</a>)
Remember the carry trade, the favorite tool of currency traders looking to exploit the difference in interest rates between high and low rate countries? That trade was savagely repudiated during the global financial crisis, but <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e82911e0-5f36-11e2-be51-00144feab49a.html#axzz2IjePTLSR">the carry trade is not dead</a>. 

With roughly 40 countries operating with near zero or negative interest rates, the carry trade could be starting to rebound and that could potentially be good news for DBV. DBV's index "is composed of currency futures contracts on certain G10 currencies and is designed to exploit the trend that currencies associated with relatively high interest rates, on average, tend to rise in value relative to currencies associated with relatively low interest rates," <a href="http://www.invescopowershares.com/products/overview.aspx?ticker=DBV">according to PowerShares</a>.

As of January 18, DBV's holdings looked like this: Long Australian and New Zealand dollars and Norwegian krone and short euros, Swiss francs and Japanese yen. Home to nearly $348 million in assets under management, DBV has gained more than three percent in the past month.

ETFS Physical White Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/wite#NYSE">WITE</a>)
Following another up year in 2012, gold has now finished higher in twelve consecutive years. Predictably, the longer gold's bull market runs, the louder the chorus grows calling for bullion's bubble to burst. 

Fortunately, there are ways for investors to maintain physical holdings of other precious metals and WITE presents an alternative to owning all three of the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>), the ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pall#NYSE">PALL</a>) and the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pplt#NYSE">PPLT</a>) because those are the metals held by WITE.

WITE has recently proved its mettle (no pun intended) to investors. In the past month, the fund has outpace the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>) and slightly outpaced SLV. Platinum's surge has put PPLT well ahead of WITE, but bullishness for platinum and palladium does positively impact WITE. Including Tuesday's 1.4 percent gain, WITE is up almost eight percent in the past month.

Investors for a basket fund that does not exclude gold should consider the ETFS Physical PM Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>).

WisdomTree Dreyfus Commodity Currency Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ccx#NYSE">CCX</a>)
In a perfect world, the WisdomTree Dreyfus Commodity Currency Fund would make for an ideal weak dollar play as the ETF is designed to profit from increases in some of the so-called commodity currencies. For example, higher oil prices should benefit CCX given its exposure to major oil-producing nations such as Russia, Norway and Canada.

CCX has been a decent performer, gaining half a percent in the past month, and it should be noted that nearly all of the fund's holdings are short-term Treasury bills so credit risk is not a major issue with this ETF. 

The risks with CCX that do need to be considered include the expectation that oil supply will outstrip demand this year, which could pressure the Canadian, Norwegian and Russian currencies, or over 37 percent of the ETF's weight. Additionally, Australia, another 12.4 percent of CCX's weight, could again pare interest rates when the Reserve Bank of Australia meets early next month.

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

Futures

Currency ETFs

Forex

Intraday Update

PPLT

WITE

3 Basket ETFs Your Broker Forgot to Mention

Low volume exchange-traded products get a bum wrap and the further down the volume totem one goes, the worse the reputation becomes. This scenario exists despite the fact that there is <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/12/07/2740931/etf-liquidity-thinly-traded-etfs-are-not-so-bad">ample empirical evidence suggesting many low volume funds</a> deliver excellent returns.

Importantly, the phenomenon of high returns from low volume ETFs and ETNs is not limited to just one asset class. Five of the 10 best-performing equity-based ETFs year-to-date <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/10/2955946/argument-for-low-volume-etfs-gains-steam">will not be winning any volume contests any time soon</a>. 

Add to that, it is not hard to find <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/markets/bonds/12/10/2956219/low-volume-bond-etfs-thriving-too">a number of thinly traded bond ETFs</a> delivering attractive returns. Now it is time to put commodities ETFs and ETNs under the microscope to see if volume makes a difference. Not surprisingly, the answer is "Yes, there are some lightly traded commodities funds that have been surging this year."

Case and point: The United States Gasoline Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/uga#NYSE">UGA</a>). The United States Gasoline Fund is by no means anonymous, but given the commodity UGA tracks and its impact on the daily lives of millions of Americans, one might expect UGA to be more heavily traded. 

Despite average daily volume of just over 42,000 shares, UGA has jumped 25.4 percent in 2012. The performance over the past three months is even more astounding. UGA was trading around $46 in early July. It was found flirting with $61 at Monday's close.

UGA, which tracks NYMEX-traded unleaded gasoline futures, is not the only example. There is no doubt most investors have heard about surging corn prices this year and how the Teucrium Corn Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/corn#NYSE">CORN</a>) has benefited. CORN is up more than 15 percent year-to-date, but the volume is fair on that fund and is nearly five times that of SOYB's.

The Teucrium Soybean Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/soyb#NYSE">SOYB</a>), another beneficiary of the drought that ravaged the U.S. Midwest this summer, has soared 18.2 percent year-to-date and even though it was known soybean prices were tracking corn higher in the summer, SOYB's average daily turnover is still below 50,000 shares. 

Not for the faint of heart or those that choose to ignore headlines out of the Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, the iPath DJ-UBS Cocoa TR Sub-Index ETN (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/nib#NYSE">NIB</a>) has also been a stellar performer this year. NIB is up almost 16 percent on volume that is less than 47,000 shares per day. NIB has enjoyed a nice run despite its volume hurdles, but the fund is starting to give back some of those gains and a move below $33 could worsen a sell-off that is already gaining pace.

Precious metals cannot be ignored, especially when silver is the year's best-performing commodity. However, most investors already know about the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>) and gold products such as the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>). 

Given the recent bullishness in silver and gold along with the positive impact additional monetary easing can have on platinum and palladium, it would be reasonable to assume an ETF that offers exposure to all four precious metals would be home to big volume. That is not the case for the ETFS Physical PM Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>).

GLTR is nearly two-years-old, has jumped 16.4 percent in just the past three months and is trading 4.2 percent below its 52-week, but still has ADV of just over 10,000 shares. That is a head scratcher, but there are other metals funds beset by the light volume/high return quagmire. 

All of the following feature double-digit year-to-date returns with slack average daily turnover: UBS E-TRACS Long Platinum TR ETN (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ptm#NYSE">PTM</a>), ETFS Physical White Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/wite#NYSE">WITE</a>), iPath DJ-UBS Precious Metals TR Sub-Index ETN (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/jjp#NYSE">JJP</a>) and the ELEMENTS Rogers International Commodity Metal ETN (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/rjz#NYSE">RJZ</a>).

For more on thinly traded ETFs, click <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/08/2849585/debunking-some-common-etf-myths">here</a>.

Technicals

Pre-Market Outlook

CORN

iPath DJ-UBS Precious Metals Subindex Total Return ETN

iPath DJ-UBScoa Subindex Total Return ETN

SOYB

Some Low Volume Commodities ETFs Are Flourishing

Here is the ETF Professor's ETF Watch List for Friday August 24, 2012.

Index play of the day: ProShares UltraShort QQQ (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/qid#NYSE">QID</a>).

The ETFS Physical PM Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>) is looking good.

Keep an eye on the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/faz#NYSE">FAZ</a>).

Emerging markets plays of the day: Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/vnm#NYSE">VNM</a>), ProShares UltraShort FTSE China 25 (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fxp#NYSE">FXP</a>) and the ProShares UltraShort Brazil (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bzq#NYSE">BZQ</a>).

Forex play of the day: ProShares UltraShort Euro (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/euo#NYSE">EUO</a>).

Bond play of the day: iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/tlt#NYSE">TLT</a>).

Broad U.S. Equity ETFs

New ETFs

iShares Trust Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund

ETFs to Watch August 24, 2012 (EUO, FAZ, TLT)

March brings lions, lambs, ides and an entire day devoted to the consumption of adult beverages. It also brings March Madness, also known as the NCAA Basketball Tournament. The 68-team field was announced Sunday and Tuesday will bring the first game. 

March Madness is big business for advertisers and networks alike. It's also a pain in the neck for employers in scores of industries. Simply put, March Madness leads to a maddening decline in worker productivity. Last year, Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas estimated the NCAA Tournament costs employers $1.8 billion in unproductive wages.

Recent research shows 38% of workers intend to watch a game at work. Roughly a quarter of workers surveyed said they intend to do some kind of research for their brackets while at work. And the argument can be made that workers watching games via streaming services online consumer bandwidth for non-professional purposes. 

There are bound to be some stock market winners thanks to March Madness and these ETFs might contain a few.

Market Vectors Gaming ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bjk#NYSE">BJK</a>)
The bulk of the gambling done on the NCAA Tournament comes in the form of office pools and the like, but in case you didn't go to Harvard Law School, that type of endeavor is actually illegal. Still, Americans throw several billion per year into illegal March Madness pools. Las Vegas casinos generate an estimated $100 million in revenue thanks to the tournament. 

That's probably not going to be enough to move the needle much with BJK, but <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2353678/vegas-baby-roll-the-dice-with-gambling-etfs">there are other reasons</a> to consider this ETF. Among them: A rebounding global economy and BJK's emerging markets exposure.

PowerShares Dynamic Leisure &amp; Entertainment Portfolio (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pej#NYSE">PEJ</a>)
The PowerShares Dynamic Leisure &amp; Entertainment Portfolio is more heavily allocated to restaurant stocks such as Chipotle (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cmg#NYSE">CMG</a>), McDonald's (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/mcd#NYSE">MCD</a>) and Yum Brands (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/yum#NYSE">YUM</a>), but CBS (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cbs#NYSE">CBS</a>), the network that will broadcast many tournament games and the Final Four, is the ETF's third-largest holding at 5%. 

PEJ is up more than 13% year-to-date, but is looking over-extended and really needs to break some resistance around $21.30 to get new buyers into the game.

PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pbs#NYSE">PBS</a>)
PBS should be a winner in 2012 because of <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/markets/bonds/12/03/2397324/five-defensive-etfs-your-broker-forgot-to-mention-xlp-pcy-pbs">increased election year ad spending</a> but this ETF is a fine idea for March Madness. CBS is the top holding here at almost 5.2% and PBS offers access to the other major networks as well as some of the largest cable providers as well. The ETF's biggest test isn't March Madness, but resistance at $15.

Vanguard Total World Stock Index ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/vt#NYSE">VT</a>)
The Vanguard Total World Stock Index ETF enjoyed solid performances in January and February, but the ETF hasn't impressed much to start March and if traders are spending more time watching games and filling out brackets, this is one ETF that could wilt during a time of low volume and waning interest. Sell in March and go away could be potentially damaging to VT. 

ETFS Physical PM Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>)
No guarantees, but perhaps history will repeat itself. That history being a low correlation to stocks by precious metals in March 2011. ConvergEx data published following the last NCAA Tournament showed the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>) and the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>) were among the least correlated ETFs to the S&amp;P 500 in March 2011. 

GLTR offers exposure to both gold and silver along with platinum and palladium and that could make the ETF worth a look if precious metals move to the beat of their own drummer this month.

Previews

PowerShares ETF Leisure & Entertainment Port

ETFs For March Madness (VT, BJK, GLTR)

Sprott Asset Management, the firm run by noted precious metals bull Eric Sprott, plans to add to its offerings of exchange-traded products by introducing an ETF backed by physical holdings of platinum and palladium. The firm announced the plans in a recent filing.

The filing said the new ETF will have an expense ratio of 0.5% with a proposed value of $115 million. 

Sprott currently issues the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pslv#NYSE">PSLV</a>) and the Sprott Physical Gold Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/phys#NYSE">PHYS</a>). Those ETFs are different from funds such as the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>) and the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>) in that shares of the Sprott funds can be redeemed for physical holdings of gold and silver. 

PSLV holds just under $670 million in silver and trades at a 27% premium to its net asset value while PHYS holds about $2 billion worth of gold and trades at 3.23% premium to its NAV.

The Sprott platinum and palladium ETF would compete with the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pplt#NYSE">PPLT</a>) and the ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pall#NYSE">PALL</a>). The ETFS Physical White Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/wite#NYSE">WITE</a>) and the ETFS Physical PM Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>) also offer exposure to physical platinum and palladium.

After-Hours Center

PHYS

PSLV

More Than Just Gold And Silver: Sprott to Launch Platinum, Palladium ETFs

Paradise has been lost. At least for the gold bugs. We're not saying the decade-long bull run in gold is over, but there are ominous signs to that affect. Take the case of the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>) for example. 

The world's second-largest ETF by assets is below its 200-day moving average on its weekly chart for the first time since early 2009. The point and figure chart for the ETF indicates a decline to $136 is possible and, not surprisingly, the outlook is no better for GLD rivals such as the iShares Comex Gold Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/iau#NYSE">IAU</a>).

Maybe the yellow metal is taking a rest. Maybe it's about to reverse trend and enter a legitimate bear market. Time will tell and we'll tell you about some of the ETFs you need to know about for an extended gold slide.

Potential Winners

Direxion Daily Gold Miners 3X Bear Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dust#NYSE">DUST</a>):
Apparently, we were ahead of the game by touting this ETF <a href="">back in September</a>. Back then, DUST was double leveraged, but it recently added some juice and moved to the triple leveraged neighborhood. Put it this way, if gold mining stocks and ETFs struggled to rise with gold going higher, they're not going to go up with gold going down. DUST has a lot of upside in it, perhaps even 10% over the next few days.

PowerShares Dollar Bullish (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/uup#NYSE">UUP</a>):
We're having a hard time believing it, too. Two endorsements <a href="">for UUP in the same day</a>. Well, if gold isn't a safe have right now, then what is? Obviously the U.S. dollar. 

ProShares UltraShort Silver (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/zsl#NYSE">ZSL</a>):
The experts say gold drags silver higher. Logically, that means it would drag the white metal lower. The bad news is the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>) and the ETFS Physical Silver Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sivr#NYSE">SIVR</a>) need no downside assistance as both are down more than 23% in the past three months. That means it's time to dial up ZSL, which can ring up gains of 5% or more in a single day.

WisdomTree Managed Futures ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/wdti#NYSE">WDTI</a>):
As we've been telling you lately, the WisdomTree Managed Futures ETF has short positions in gold and silver futures. Obviously, that makes this unheralded ETF worth a look here.

Potential Losers

Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdxj#NYSE">GDXJ</a>):
Reference the part on DUST for information, but consider this as well: If GDXJ violates support at $24, its probably going to $20 for the first time since early 2010. By the way, this probably isn't the environment for small-caps of any stripe.

CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fxa#NYSE">FXA</a>):
The Aussie dollar is a commodity currency and the commodity it has shown a historical correlation with is gold. Typically, gold moves first and the Aussie dollar responds. That could mean more declines for FXA are on the way, especially if support at $98 is violted.

iShares MSCI South Africa Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/eza#NYSE">EZA</a>):
EZA did not make <a href="">our list of emerging markets ETFs to watch next year</a>. Now we might have a really good reason for that. South Africa is a major gold miner and EZA has been acting like a mining ETF, slumping as gold has gone up. In fact, EZA is down almost 21% year-to-date even as the SPDR Gold Shares is up more than 15%. That's not a good sign.

Action Items:
Traders that believe gold is going to continue falling should consider the following trades: Long DUST, long the PowerShares DB Gold Double Short ETN (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dzz#NYSE">DZZ</a>), long UUP.

Traders that are willing to bet on a rebound for gold should consider the following trades: Long IAU, Short ZSL, long the ETFS Physical PM Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>).


Neither Benzinga nor its staff recommend that you buy, sell, or hold any security. We do not offer investment advice, personalized or otherwise. Benzinga recommends that you conduct your own due diligence and consult a certified financial professional for personalized advice about your financial situation.

Small Cap Analysis

DUST

GDXJ

PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund

Wisdom Tree Managed Futures Strategy Fund

WDTI

Safe Haven No More: ETFs For Gold's Decline

Alright, so today may not be the best day to extol the virtues of investing in precious metals as gold and silver have joined the broader market in the red, but the reality is gold's long-term uptrend remains in tact and silver has been a stout performer for several months now.

In fact, this could prove to be an ideal time for investors to remember that there is more to investing in precious metals ETFs than just the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>) and the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>). 

Yep, there's a slew of precious metals ETFs out there that don't grab a lot of headlines, but these funds are still worth a look at a time when gold and silver are perhaps the safest bets from the long side. Here are some precious metals ETFs your broker probably forgot to tell you about.

PowerShares DB Precious Metals Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dbp#NYSE">DBP</a>):
Unlike GLD or SLV, DBP does not offer exposure to physical holdings of any metal. Rather, this ETF tracks the DBIQ Optimum Yield Precious Metals Index Excess Return, a rules based index comprised of gold and silver futures contracts. 

The futures play results in a high expense ratio of 0.75%, but it is worth noting that DBP falls right in the middle of performance when compared to GLD and SLV over the past three months, beating the latter slightly while lagging the former by a small amount.

FactorShares 2X Gold Bull/S&amp;P 500 Bear (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fsg#NYSE">FSG</a>): 
Newly minted FSG, which debuted earlier this year, might be new and it might have high fees (it does at 0.75%), but it also might be the ideal way to play this current market environment. The new ETF is a a long play on gold futures and a short on the S&amp;P 500 eMini contract and the daily return is generated through the difference between those two contracts. Simply put, if you think gold will continue its bullish ways and there's another lost decade in store for the S&amp;P 500, FSG is your ETF.

ETFS Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>):
Considering that GLTR has done an admirable job of attracting assets (about $270.5 million) and that the ETF is backed by physical holdings of not one, but four precious metals, this fund surprisingly flies under the radar. GLTR is heavily weighted to gold, then silver with a palladium and platinum kicker. That means the ETF can be used as a safe haven play while making a small bet on riskier fare through platinum and palladium. On the downside, GLTR has lagged GLD over the last three months.

Global X Gold Explorers ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gldx#NYSE">GLDX</a>):
GLDX made its debut in November 2010 and as gold miners have started to pick up their game in recent months, investors have started to take note of this unique Global X offering. With an expense ratio of 0.65%, GLDX has attracted $27.2 million in AUM, not a bad haul for less than a year on the block.

What makes GLDX truly interesting is that on the surface it would appear to be an ETF that holds typical fare of the gold mining universe. In reality, the 28 stocks GLDX holds are anything but “typical” or “standard.” That might be why the ETF is up 12% in the past month.

GLDX

Four Precious Metals ETFs Your Broker Forgot To Tell You About

ETF Securities, the London-based ETF issuer with $28 billion in assets under management (AUM), is reportedly considering an IPO worth $1 billion. The firm has retained Citigroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to consider strategic options, including a share sale, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources with knowledge of the talks.

ETFs issued by ETF Securities made their debut in the U.S. in 2009 with the introduction of the ETFS Physical Silver Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sivr#NYSE">SIVR</a>) and the ETF Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sgol#NYSE">SGOL</a>). In March, the firm said it had $4 billion in AUM across seven U.S.-listed ETFs.

ETF Securities was founded by former banker Graham Tuckwell. Tuckwell launched the world's first gold exchange traded product in 2003, ahead of the 2005 debut of the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>), which is now the world's second-largest ETF by assets. 

Australian Tuckwell said his firm is cash flow positive and that the IPO is not necessary to raise cash, the Journal reported. The firm has seen its AUM quadruple from $7 billion at the start of 2009 due in part to the rising popularity of commodities ETFs.

Assuming a valuation of $1 billion, ETF Securities would have a market cap not far removed from WisdomTree (PK: WSDT), which sports a market value just under $783.5 million. WisdomTree had $12.1 billion in ETF AUM as of April 29, according to its Web site.

Other publicly traded ETF issuers listed in the U.S. include BlackRock (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/blk#NYSE">BLK</a>) and State Street (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/stt#NYSE">STT</a>), the two largest U.S. ETF issuers by assets, and Invesco (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ivz#NYSE">IVZ</a>), the parent company of PowerShares.

The Journal piece did not give a time frame for an ETF Securities listing nor did it say where the firm would list its shares. In the April 11 issue of Forbes, the magazine's “Investing” column mentioned ETF Securities as a possible IPO candidate in the “next year or two.”

ETF Securities also offers the ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pall#NYSE">PALL</a>), the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pplt#NYSE">PPLT</a>), the ETFS Physical Asian Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/agol#NYSE">AGOL</a>), the ETFS Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>) and the ETFS Physical White Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/wite#NYSE">WITE</a>) to U.S. investors.

Wall Street Journal

IPOs

AGOL

ETF Securities Reportedly Mulling IPO

Play bin Laden's Capture With These ETFs

Not surprisingly, news of Osama bin Laden's death at the hands of U.S. forces looks like it could send stocks soaring on Monday. Equity futures spiked Sunday while the news is weighing on oil. Some of the air is coming out of the gold trade and, if you can believe it, the dollar is rising.

In addition to gold, palladium and platinum are plunging as is silver, which was under substantial pressure before the bin Laden news broke. So we could see stocks and the dollar rally on Monday while leaving some of the precious metals that have been highly correlated to the S&amp;P 500 behind, for a day at least.

Use these ETFs to play enthusiasm surrounding the death of one of the world's most unsavory bad guys.

1) PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/uup#NYSE">UUP</a>):
For those choosing UUP as their weapon of choice as the “We got bin Laden” trade, be advised one day does not end a trend nor does it begin a new one. UUP has one of the ugliest charts out there as the dollar has been bludgeoned for months now, so the bin Laden news may mean nothing more than a couple days respite for the buck.

2) ProShares UltraShort Gold (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gll#NYSE">GLL</a>) and ProShares UltraShort Silver (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/zsl#NYSE">ZSL</a>):
Two of the most unthinkable trades for almost all of this year may finally have their day in the sun. Plus, ZSL is the better way of being short silver rather than directly shorting the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>), which has found its way to the Goldman Sachs hard-to-borrow list.

3) PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dto#NYSE">DTO</a>):
DTO is another trade that has to be timed just right and doing that has been difficult to say the least in recent weeks. This trade may extend for a few days, but don't get too greedy here and don't hold DTO for two months hoping oil will fall in a straight line.

4) PowerShares DB Precious Metals (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dbp#NYSE">DBP</a>) and the ETFS Physical Metals Precious Metals Basket (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>): 
DBP and GLTR will probably be down on Monday, but the declines these high fliers see this week may represent entry points for astute traders.

5) iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/eem#NYSE">EEM</a>):
EEM is up almost 4% in the past month as emerging markets have been on a tear and the bin Laden news is just the type of headline that could provide a spark to the high beta emerging markets ETFs space. EEM is a buy above its 52-week high at $50.30.

PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN

Play bin Laden's Capture With These ETFs

You may have heard that silver is kind of a big deal these days. Indeed, the white metal that can attribute half of its demand to industrial uses is the toast of the precious metals party, regardless of what reason one attaches to that fact: Strong industrial demand or silver's status as a safe-haven in the face of wilting fiat currencies.

Whatever the reasons are, when it comes to silver ETFs, the world seems to begin and end with the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>), by far the largest of the plain vanilla long silver funds. Of course, there are other ETFs that have gotten plenty of time in the silver spotlight, such as the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>), but SLV is the dominate silver ETF.

So even with silver's rise, it is possible for a long silver ETF to be somewhat anonymous and that's just what today's “Checking In” candidate has been, at least when considering how popular silver is these days. Let's try to change that with a closer examination of the ETFS Physical White Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/wite#NYSE">WITE</a>).

Like the ETFS Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>) introduced before it, WITE offers combination precious metals exposure through physical holdings. In WITE's case, that means silver, platinum and palladium with an expense ratio of 0.6%

The ETF holds nearly 50,000 ounces of silver, but just about 500 ounces of platinum and 400 ounces of palladium, according to the ETF Securities Web site. Consider WITE a silver cocktail with a twist of platinum and a dash of palladium as it allocates 55% of its weight to silver, 33% in platinum and 12% in palladium.

That might be why WITE is far from the first ETF off the tongues of silver bulls. It isn't a pure play on silver, but the metals mix is actually what makes WITE attractive. WITE is obviously levered to economic growth as all three of its metals have multiple industrial uses, which arguably makes the ETF just as, if not more, attractive than GLTR. 

WITE trades less than 30,000 shares a day and has just over $70 million in assets under management, but those stats shouldn't be deterrents. This is what's important: WITE is up 30% year-to-date and if silver pulls back, WITE becomes an interesting “buy on the dip” candidate.

Checking In: A Nice Day For A WITE Wedding

ETF Securities, the ETF issuer behind a suite of precious metals ETFs, said today that its U.S.-listed ETFs have surpassed $4 billion in assets under management as of March 9.

ETF Securities lists seven &lt;http:&gt;ETFs on the New York Exchange. Those funds are as follows: ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sgol#NYSE">SGOL</a>), ETFS Physical Silver Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sivr#NYSE">SIVR</a>), ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pplt#NYSE">PPLT</a>), ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NSYE: PALL), ETFS Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>), ETFS Physical White Metal Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/wite#NYSE">WITE</a>) and ETFS Asian Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/agol#NYSE">AGOL</a>).

The ascent of ETF Securities has been impressive to say the least as the company's AUM haul rested at $2.5 billion as of early November. Both SGOL and PALL have over $1 billion in AUM each, according to the company.

"We've seen good levels of interest from investors for our diversified metals baskets; GLTR and WITE and demand for gold vaulted in Switzerland (<a class="ticker" href="/stock/sgol#">SGOL</a>) and Asia (<a class="ticker" href="/stock/agol#">AGOL</a>)," William Rhind, Head of Sales &amp; Marketing for ETFS Marketing LLC, said in a statement.

Last month, ETF Securities filed plans to introduce the ETFS Physical IM Basket ETF, which will track the following industrial metals: Aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, tin and zinc.
&lt;/http:&gt;

ETF Securities Tops $4B In AUM

"The ETFS Physical Precious metals Basket (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>) is the first physical-bullion ETF to own more than one metal. GLTR's all-in-one convenience and relatively low expense ratio make it an attractive option," notes exchange traded fund specialist Mark Salzinger.

The editor of The Investor's ETF Report explains, "We like this ETF for investors who want to complement exposure to gold bullion with extensive exposure to silver and modest exposures to platinum and palladium.

"Each share of GLTR represents ownership of 0.03 ounces of gold, 1.1 ounces of silver, 0.004 ounces of platinum and 0.006 ounces of palladium.

<a href="http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2011/03/18/all-in-one-metals-play-physical-precious-metals-basket-gltr/">Continue reading the article</a>.

Physical Precious Metals Basket (GLTR): All in One Metals ETF

This week's visit with a new ETF is an appropriate one for the times, not just because the ETF has been steadily moving higher recently, but because of the factors that have led to its ascent.
Precious metals, namely gold and silver started 2011 out in a swoon after notching impressive runs last year, but thanks to rising political tensions, the metals, silver especially are back and back in a big way and that's helped boost the fortunes of the ETFS Physical PM Basket (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gltr#NYSE">GLTR</a>), which made its debut in October.
Being first to market is a big deal in the ETF universe and GLTR certainly has that going for it as the ETF is the first to provide investors exposure to phsyical gold, silver, palladium and platinum in one fund. ETF Securities has already seen the advantage of being first to market with its ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pall#NYSE">PALL</a>) and ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pplt#NYSE">PPLT</a>), the first funds available to U.S. investors backed by those metals.
Now almost six months from its release date, the allure of GLTR remains the same as the pitch used by ETF Securities in October: GLTR is one-stop shopping for the metals-minded investor. Why pick just one of gold, silver, palladium and platinum when you can have all four in one ETF?
GLTR does not equal weight to each metal, rather gold accounts for the largest percentage of GLTR's weight, silver is next and platinum and palladium get roughly the same representation. So for the investor looking to really capture silver's current bull run, GLTR is not the best option.
That said, the Professor recommended this play to subscribers (join us at <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/etf-professor" title="http://www.benzinga.com/etf-professor">http://www.benzinga.com/etf-professor</a>) a while back in the low 80s. Now GLTR is pushing $93 and has all the makings of a triple-digit ETF sooner rather than later. Despite its rookie status, GLTR has proven to be a profitable insurance policy against geopolitical events and for investors that want to maximum metals exposure.

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