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Gold stocks at 50-80% discount present a unique opportunity. Newmont is undervalued despite 10% rise in gold prices.

EXCLUSIVE: Value Investor Is &#39;Very Happy To Take Advantage&#39; Of Top Gold Miner At Historical Discount

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If Mining Rally is Legitimate, Don&#39;t Forget These ETFs

Amid growing supply constraints and undervalued stock prices, value investors are gravitating towards mining stocks, seeking to capitalize on a market dislocation poised for a readjustment. 
Taylor McKenna, CFA analyst at Kopernik Global Investors LLC, shared insights at a Benzinga virtual event on Thursday, highlighting the significant gap between metal commodity prices and the <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/events/mining-unearthed-2024/">valuation of mining companies.</a>
Watch The Full Benzinga Virtual Event – Mining Unearthed: Navigating the Ore of Innovation!
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Gold Stocks At A Discount Despite Rising Gold Prices</h3>
McKenna pointed out the stark disconnection in the market, with gold trading above $2,000 per ounce while gold stocks are priced at a discount of 50 to 80%. This discrepancy presents a unique opportunity for investors, according to McKenna, who is &#8220;very happy to take advantage of this currently&#8221;. 
He noted the decline in capital expenditure among mining companies to 80% of what was spent a decade or more ago, forecasting severe supply constraints for various metals.
&#8220;What&#8217;s really exciting for us is that valuations are reaching extremes,&#8221; McKenna said. 
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Newmont Corp: A Case Study in Undervaluation</h3>
McKenna underscored Newmont Corp.&#8216;s (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NEM#NYSE">NEM</a>) 60% stock price drop from the previous year, despite a 10% rise in gold prices. 
Contrary to concerns of value destruction, McKenna praised Newmont&#8217;s acquisition of Newcrest Mining last year as &#8216;a steal&#8217; for the company. 
He argued that Newmont&#8217;s valuation has actually increased.
&#8220;Currently, you can buy gold in the ground at the largest gold producer with the longest mine lives for under $200.00 an ounce. Even if you add lifting cost and then a margin on top of that, it&#8217;s still well below the current gold price of $2,000,&#8221; McKenna said. 
Chart: Newmont Trades At Extreme Discount Compared To Gold Prices 
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="495" src="https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/15161514/image-35-1024x495.png" alt="" class="wp-image-218119" srcset="https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/15161514/image-35-1024x495.png 1024w,https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/15161514/image-35-300x145.png 300w,https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/15161514/image-35-768x372.png 768w,https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/15161514/image-35-1536x743.png 1536w,https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/15161514/image-35.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Stronger Balance Sheets, Positive Outlook</h3>
McKenna also commended the improved financial health of larger mining firms. He noted their cleaner balance sheets and net cash positions. 
Gold miners&#8217; valuations are already at historic lows relative to the price of gold. McKenna sees even more upside potential if precious metal prices climb further, driven by industry-wide supply constraints.
Addressing the question of Wall Street&#8217;s apparent oversight of this dislocation, McKenna expressed confidence that &#8220;eventually investors will wake up to this.&#8221; 
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">List of ETFs Holding Newmont Corp.</h3>
<figure class="wp-block-table is-style-stripes"> 
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>ETF Name</td>
<td>↓ Weight %</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>iShares, Inc. &#8211; iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/RING#NYSE">RING</a>)</td>
<td>19.05%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>VanEck ETF Trust &#8211; VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GDX#NYSE">GDX</a>)</td>
<td>13.20%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sprott Funds Trust &#8211; Sprott Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SGDM#NYSE">SGDM</a>)</td>
<td>11.10%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>WisdomTree Trust &#8211; WisdomTree Efficient Gold Plus Gold Miners Strategy Fund (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GDMN#NYSE">GDMN</a>)</td>
<td>8.06%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>SPDR Index Shares Funds &#8211; SPDR S&amp;P North American Natural Resources ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NANR#NYSE">NANR</a>)</td>
<td>5.88%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>iShares, Inc. &#8211; iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners Fund (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SLVP#NYSE">SLVP</a>)</td>
<td>4.49%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>iShares Trust &#8211; iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/IYM#NYSE">IYM</a>)</td>
<td>4.43%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</figure>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Benzinga"></a>Now Read: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/24/02/37139816/2008-big-short-oracle-burry-bets-big-on-chinese-giants-backs-google-amazons-ai-wave">2008 &#8216;Big Short&#8217; Oracle Burry Bets Big On Chinese Giants, Backs Google, Amazon&#8217;s AI Wave</a>
Image: Pixabay

EXCLUSIVE: Value Investor Is 'Very Happy To Take Advantage' Of Top Gold Miner At Historical Discount

This is how strong silver and the related exchange-traded funds have been in 2016: The iShares Silver Trust (ETF) (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>) labors 23.2 percent below its 52-week high set in August, putting the largest silver ETF in a bear market, but SLV is still higher by 14.7 percent year-to-date.
Although silver has recently succumbed to profit-taking and the strong dollar, four of this year&#39;s best-performing non-leveraged ETFs are directly exposed to silver mining in some form or fashion. That group is led by the FactorShares Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/silj#NYSE">SILJ</a>).
As was recently noted in this space, SILJ is this year&#39;s best-performing materials ETF. It also epitomizes the feast or famine nature of the silver equities trade. SILJ is off more than 40 percent from its 2016 high, but still sports a year-to-date gain <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/16/12/8822121/meet-this-years-best-materials-etf">of over 132 percent</a>.
<h3>Silver Miners</h3>
However, SILJ remains the preferred avenue for tapping a rally or rebound in silver mining stocks. SILJ&#39;s large-cap rivals, the Global X Silver Miners (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>) and the iShares Inc. (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>), are up an average of &ldquo;just&rdquo; 75 percent this year. SLVP and SIL are also among the top 10 non-leveraged ETFs this year.
Keeping with the theme of miners equities in leadership roles this year, there is the Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/copx#NYSE">COPX</a>). With a year-to-date gain of nearly 72 percent, COPX <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/16/12/8779004/make-the-copper-call-with-this-etf">also resides among the top 10</a> non-leveraged ETFs.
Knowing that copper and silver are two of the best-performing metals this year, it is not stunning that the iShares MSCI All Peru Capped Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/epu#NYSE">EPU</a>) is higher by nearly 59 percent. Peru is a major copper producer and one of the world&#39;s largest silver producers. EPU&#39;s performance this year has it ranked among the top 10 non-leveraged ETFs and is good for one of the best showings among single-country ETFs.
The second-best single-country ETF this year and also a member of the top 10 list is EPU&#39;s Brazilian counterpart, the iShares MSCI Brazil Index (ETF) (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ewz#NYSE">EWZ</a>). However, some of the shine has come off the LatAm trade as EPU and EWZ are lower by an average of 2.7 percent over the past 90 days.
<h3>Resurgence</h3>
Another prominent theme among this year&#39;s top ETFs is resurgence. Just look at the Market Vectors-Coal ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/kol#NYSE">KOL</a>) and the Market Vectors Steel (ETF) (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slx#NYSE">SLX</a>). Both are among this year&#39;s 10 best ETFs and are up an average of 98 percent.
President-elect Donald Trump has a lot to do with that.
As <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/16/11/8739106/trump-rally-keeps-shine-on-steel-stocks">Benzinga reported last month</a>: &ldquo;Even before Trump&#39;s victory, steel stocks seemed to shake off the sluggishness that had plagued them since 2010. Steel stocks heralded 2016 by making a turn for the better, with the government&#39;s initiative to penalize dumping of steel by Asian countries proving salubrious for the stocks.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Silver Shines Among 2016's Best ETFs

Traders appear to be taking some profits in gold miners and the corresponding ETFs Wednesday and that is not surprising. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdx#NYSE">GDX</a>) and its small-cap counterpart, the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdxj#NYSE">GDXJ</a>) are both down 3.2 percent. That might sound bad, but consider that since the start of July GDX was up almost 14 percent heading into Wednesday and GDXJ was up 19.6 percent.

	Some profit-taking was due to occur at some point. While the recent upside moves by various mining ETFs have been impressive, the track record for these funds and their constituents over the past 18 to 24 months <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/13/07/3753335/the-tape-says-take-profits-and-run-when-mining-etf-bounces">has been ominous at best</a>. That could mean some investors might need some more cajoling to truly embrace mining stocks and ETFs.

	Compelling valuations and the potential for a sustained rally in gold and silver prices are fundamental factors that could bode well for further upside for the miners. If that scenario comes to fruition, some <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/13/07/3775634/put-a-ring-on-it-with-this-etf">obscure ETFs</a> may be also be worthy of consideration.

	PureFunds ISE Junior Silver ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/silj#NYSE">SILJ</a>) 
	When it comes to silver mining ETFs, the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>) is the dominant name, though that fund has a rival in the form of the iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>). Over the past month, either SIL or SLVP made for a great choice as the two are up an average of about 23 percent.

	No one would quibble over returns like that, but the PureFunds ISE Junior Silver ETF has surged 27 percent over that time. Think of SILJ as the GDXJ of silver mining ETFs. Yes, there are some small-caps in SIL and SLVP, but the newly minted SILJ "is the first pure-play ETF to exclusively hold silver explorers and junior silver producers," <a href="http://www.pureetfs.com/etfs/junior_silver.html">according to PureFunds</a>.

	Silvercorp (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/svm#NYSE">SVM</a>) and Fortuna Silver (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fsm#NYSE">FSM</a>), SILJ's two largest holdings, have an average market cap of about $500 million. Those stocks combine for over 24 percent of the ETF's weight.

	IndexIQ Australia Small-Cap ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/kroo#NYSE">KROO</a>) 
	Slowing economic growth in China, the looming end of the Australian mining boom and, yes, <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/13/04/3497879/golds-slide-hurting-these-country-etfs">falling gold prices</a> have been among the reasons Australia ETFs have disappointed this year.

	Now that gold prices are rebounding, so are Australia ETFs. The iShares MSCI Australia ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ewa#NYSE">EWA</a>) is up 5.4 percent in the past month, but the better of playing Australia's status as one of the world's largest gold producers is with the IndexIQ Australia Small-Cap ETF. KROO has proven as much with a one-month gain of 12 percent.

	KROO has 22.8 percent weight to the materials sector, which is 450 basis points higher than EWA's exposure to the same sector. The small-cap fund also gives investors exposure to improvement in Australian economic data as consumer discretionary names account for over 26 percent of the fund's weight.

	Global X Pure Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gggg#NYSE">GGGG</a>) 
	The Global X Pure Gold Miners ETF, <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/13/07/3779526/these-etfs-are-beating-the-reverse-split-curse">a recent victim of a reverse split</a>, has fought back to surge 22 percent in the past month. That is one of the best one-month run among mining ETFs, though hardly anyone has noticed because of GGGG's size (just $3.6 million in assets under management).

	On the surface, GGGG appears to be a copycat of GDX and the funds do share a few of the same holdings. However, GGGG is not heavily allocated to mining giants such as Goldcorp (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gg#NYSE">GG</a>) and Barrick (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/abx#NYSE">ABX</a>) as GDX is. In fact, those stocks are not even found among GGGG's 23 holdings.

	The Global X offering has a heavy international bias as the U.S. receives a weight of just under five percent, the same as Kazakhstan. Canada, Australia and South Africa combine for about 70 percent of the ETF's country weight.

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

If Mining Rally is Legitimate, Don't Forget These ETFs

Shares of Peruvian silver miner Compania de Minas Buenaventura (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bvn#NYSE">BVN</a>) are plunging nearly seven percent today after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform. The bank also slashed its price target on Buenaventura to $27.60 from $35.20.

	Even $27.60 seems far-fetched with Buenaventura currently trading below $20.

	"With no positives in sight, one of the only factors that could help is a rally in precious metal prices. The stock has dropped YTD on the back of a change in production profile, and then followed the adjustment in precious metal prices. We do not believe BVN has any catalyst in the near future that could trigger a rally," <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/13/04/3543228/update-credit-suisse-downgrades-compania-de-minas-buenav#ixzz2RxynCn2W">said Credit Suisse in a research note</a>.

	That prognosis and today's reaction is proving to be bad news for several ETFs. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>), the largest silver miners ETF by assets with $225.7 million, is lower by 1.6 percent, though volume is light. Interestingly, Buenaventura is not even a member of SIL's 31-stock lineup.

	SIL's smaller, more lightly traded counterpart, the iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>), is down almost two percent. That ETF allocates 7.64 percent of its weight to Buenaventura.

	Silver futures are lower as well. That combined with the Buenaventura downgrade are proving to be a toxic brew for SLPV and SIL, which were already off 35 percent and 36.6 percent, respectively, year-to-date at the start of trading Tuesday.

	The Buenaventura news is also having a modest impact on the iShares MSCI All Peru Capped Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/epu#NYSE">EPU</a>). That allocates 8.56 percent of its weight to the silver miner, making the stock the fund's third-largest holding.

	To put it mildly, EPU has proven <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/13/04/3497879/golds-slide-hurting-these-country-etfs">to be sensitive to gyrations</a> in mining shares. Not only is Peru a major gold producer, the country is the world's largest silver producer and the ETF devotes almost 42.6 percent of its weight to materials stocks.

	"If gold and silver prices were to rally, we would expect a positive reaction in BVN, though we would expect it to underperform its precious metal peers. Despite an interesting upside potential to our NPV, we are rating it with a Neutral (from Outperform) on the lack of catalysts despite the 27% upside," said Credit Suisse.

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

Downgrades

Price Target

Global

Buenaventura Weighs on Silver, Peru ETFs 

The Nasdaq trio of Amazon (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/amzn#NASDAQ">AMZN</a>), Apple (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aapl#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>) and Google (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/goog#NASDAQ">GOOG</a>) have been, to put it delicately, impressive over the past three months. Amid new product introductions and favorable sentiment toward the technology sector, these names have buttressed their status as growth darlings.

In the past three months, Amazon has jumped 17 percent, which trails the 20.8 percent Apple has gained over the same time. Both pale in comparison to Google, which surged almost 36.2 percent since late July. Investors that bought any of the three in July are probably quite happy. Those with the capital to have invested in all three are sitting on an average three-month gain of 24.6 percent.

Said another way, owning the trio of Amazon, Apple and Google for the past three months delivered returns that are 50 percent better than what the SPDR S&amp;P 500 (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/spy#NYSE">SPY</a>) has done in all of 2012. Yes, it is hard to find ETFs that have outperformed the average gain of the aforementioned tech trio over the past 90 days. Hard, but not impossible. 

Take a look at the following funds:

Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdxj#NYSE">GDXJ</a>)

The small-cap cousin to the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdx#NYSE">GDX</a>), itself recently an impressive performer, has simply been on fire. GDXJ is on pace for a 30 percent third-quarter gain. Even if it stayed in neutral until the end of the quarter, the ETF will end up having outpaced Amazon and Apple by healthy margins. 

The mining ETFs have finally stopped frustrating investors and are <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2012/09/junior-gold-miner-etf-jumps-30-in-quarter-to-beat-bullion/">outpacing ETFs backed by physical gold such as the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: </a><a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>), as ETF Trends notes. To its credit, GDX has slightly outperformed Amazon in the past three months as well.

Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>)

For as good as the gold miners have been in the past 90 days, the silver miners are having a say in the matter as well. In that time, the Global X Silver Miners ETF, by far the largest of the two silver miners ETFs, has jumped 31.2 percent. That run easily trumps the returns offered by Amazon and Apple over the same time and it also beats the average of Amazon, Apple and Google. 

The rival iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>) has been stout as well, surging nearly 29 percent.

Market Vectors Egypt ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/egpt#NYSE">EGPT</a>)

Simply put, the Market Vectors Egypt ETF has been on a torrid pace this year. It is one of the best-performing country-specifc ETFs tracking any type of market, developed, emerging or frontier. What makes EGPT's performance all the more noteworthy is that the ETF is soaring in the face of <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/09/2901344/egypt-etf-soars-as-protests-escalate">Middle East headlines that cannot be considered favorable</a>.

A case can be made that EGPT is overbought at current levels. Then again, some might argue the ETF still has some upside ahead because it still trades well below where resided before the onset of the 2011 Arab Spring. 

In the past three months, EGPT is up a Google-esque 35 percent, which is to say a tiny ETF tracking one of the most politically volatile countries in the world and a frontier market at that has been twice as good as Amazon over the same and almost 1,500 basis points better than Apple.

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

Movers

Tech

AAPL

AMZN

EGPT

GOOG

These ETFs Have Topped Tech's Big 3

There are some undeniable truths about the state of the exchange-traded products industry. Assets are expected to rise in 2012 and in the coming years, but on the downside <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/09/2932369/global-x-will-close-4-etfs">fund closures are on the uptick, too</a>. 

Despite a turbulent market environment and intensifying competition, ETF sponsors continue to issue new products at a solid clip and <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/news/12/09/2930938/velocityshares-planning-3-emerging-markets-etfs">recent filing data indicate pipelines for future introductions</a> are robust. 

It is the debut of plans and for new ETFs and ETNs that shines a light on another undeniable truth: Not all new ETPs will succeed, but some will. In fact, a fair amount of funds that have debuted in 2012 are off to solid starts and that does not include the $2.7 billion PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bond#NYSE">BOND</a>). Not surprisingly, the "Bill Gross ETF" is in a league of its own when it comes to successful new ETFs.

A <a href="http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2012/09/21/the-years-most-popular-new-stock-etfs/?mod=BOL_hpp_blog_fof">recent Barron's piece</a> highlighted several new funds that are prospering. 

We will look at some of those ETFs as well as add to the list right here:

iShares MSCI Global Select Metals &amp; Mining Producers Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pick#NYSE">PICK</a>)

In an already <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/09/2930670/etf-showdown-materials-melee">crowded field for materials ETFs</a>, PICK has thrived, as Barron's noted. The fund has hauled in more than $221 million in AUM since its February debut. 

While PICK has clearly been a success, another pair of new iShares mining funds have seen mixed AUM performances. The iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ring#NYSE">RING</a>) and the iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>) have notched stellar gains in recent weeks as gold and silver miners have surged, but the funds have just $41.4 million and $2.4 million in AUM, respectively. 

In the case of RING, that is not too bad for an ETF that debuted in February. However, both RING and SLVP prove it is tough to go up against well-established competitors such as the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdx#NYSE">GDX</a>) and the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>).

Market Vectors Preferred Securities ex Financials ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pfxf#NYSE">PFXF</a>)

Van Eck, parent company of Market Vectors, looks like it has struck gold with PFXF to this point. It is not surprising because PFXF has multiple selling points. For starters, are craving yield and PFXF features a 30-day SEC yield of 6.21 percent. 

Second, PFXF is truly unique in that it is the only ETF tracking preferred stocks that does not feature an absurd weight to financial services names. REITs account for a third of the fund's weight, but that is nothing compared to the 80 percent or higher allocation given to bank stocks by other preferred stock ETFs. Next, PFXF's expense ratio of 0.4 percent makes it the cheapest preferred stock ETF on the market.

Add all that up, and it is not surprising that the ETF has $67.3 million in AUM in just three months of trading. 

iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fm#NYSE">FM</a>)

It might not be fair to include the iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Index Fund on this list because the fund is just starting its second full week of trading. That said, the newest entrant to the frontier market ETF competition is off to a banner start with almost $13 million in assets under management.

FM's debut was widely anticipated in some corners of the ETF industry and despite the elevated risk involved with frontier markets compared to emerging economies, FM has thus far lived up to the hype. Some might say it is too early to hop on the FM bandwagon and what could prove integral to the fund's success going forward is its ability to provide some form of decent liquidity in markets with a reputation for being illiquid. 

FM's <a href="http://us.ishares.com/content/stream.jsp?url=/content/en_us/repository/resource/fact_sheet/fm.pdf&amp;mimeType=application/pdf">fact sheet indicates measures are in place</a> to bolster liquidity and if the fund makes good on that, it could be one of the more popular new products of 2012.

SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term High Yield Bond ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sjnk#NYSE">SJNK</a>)

The SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term High Yield Bond ETF is an interesting case. One cannot look at this ETF and gloss over a modified adjusted duration of just over two years, meaning the fund is more exposed to changes in interest rates than its longer duration counterparts. 

Additionally, SJNK is completely overshadowed in junk bond ETF conversation by the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/hyg#NYSE">HYG</a>) and the SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/jnk#NYSE">JNK</a>). Perhaps "overshadowed" is too harsh an assessment. SJNK has accumulated almost $289 million in AUM since its mid-March debut. That puts the fund in position to be one of this year's most successful new ETFs of any kind and probably no worse than the second-best new bond ETF in terms of AUM behind the PIMCO Total Return ETF.

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

Bonds

Dividends

Barron's

BOND

PFXF

PICK

SJNK

Some New ETFs Already Impressing

With $68.9 billion in assets under management, the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gld#NYSE">GLD</a>) is the second-largest ETF in the world. The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/iau#NYSE">IAU</a>) is not exactly tiny with $10 billion in AUM, nor can the $9.5 billion iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>) be considered diminutive.

On the mining front, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdx#NYSE">GDX</a>) has almost $8.4 billion in AUM while the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdxj#NYSE">GDXJ</a>) is home to a healthy $2.6 billion in assets. In other words, it is unusual to find an exchange-traded product that offers exposure to the precious metals complex that can be considered anonymous or obscure.

Whether its a futures play, a fund backed by physical holdings or an equity-based fund, there are a few precious metals ETFs and ETNs out there that brokers and investors probably have not heard of. With gold and silver looking as though they want to make new highs, there is no time like the present to become acquainted with some new precious metals plays.

ETFS Physical White Metals Basket Shares (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/wite#NYSE">WITE</a>)
For the investor that already has gold exposure and just cannot decide between the white metals, there is the ETFS Physical White Metals Basket Shares. Nearly two-years-old, WITE uses a basket approach to give investors exposure to silver, platinum and palladium. WITE currently holds almost 49,500 ounces of silver, 495 ounces of platinum and 396 ounces of palladium, <a href="http://www.etfsecurities.com/msl/etfs_physical_wm_basket_us.asp">according to ETF Securities data</a>.

Despite the soaring popularity of precious metals ETFs in recent years, WITE has struggled to capture investors' attention. The fund has just over $34 million in AUM and average daily volume below 1,900 shares. That shows investors are missing out on a good thing as WITE is up nine percent year-to-date. 

PowerShares DB Precious Metals Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dbp#NYSE">DBP</a>)
With almost $323 million in AUM, calling the PowerShares DB Precious Metals Fund anonymous is a stretch. Overlooked might be the more appropriate descriptor. Where DBP differs from funds such as GLD and SLV is its fees. DBP charges 0.79 percent per year, which is high among metals funds, particularly when considering DBP has no storage costs.

Then again, futures-based exchange-traded products have a reputation for high fees and DBP does live up to that billing. The fund tracks the DBIQ Optimum Yield Precious Metals Index, which is 80 percent allocated to gold and 20 percent allocated to silver.

DBP is up 6.3 percent year-to-date, but that is barely better than GLD and more than 400 basis points worse than SLV. 

iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ring#NYSE">RING</a>)
The iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund is another good example of a <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/markets/bonds/12/08/2856103/4-six-month-old-etfs-that-will-survive-and-thrive">new ETF that has shown it will be around for a while</a>, though it is debatable that many investors even know that much about this mining play. RING debuted in late January and now has $32.4 million in AUM.

That is not a bad haul, but that total also indicates RING has its hands full in terms of competing with GDX's first-to-market advantage. GDX and RING actually make for an interesting competition. RING's 0.39 percent expense ratio is 13 basis points below GDX's, but the Market Vectors fund has sharply outperformed the iShares ETF over the past three months.

At the very least, RING is off to a better start than the iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>). SLVP has made almost no inroads on the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>), the dominant silver miners fund.

For more on mining ETFs, click <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/06/2647992/5-mining-etfs-your-broker-forgot-to-mention-psau-gldx-ring">here</a>.

WITE

3 Precious Metals ETFs Your Broker Forgot to Mention

Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's a bad thing, but it's clear that sentiment can change on a dime in this market. That has certainly proven to be a good thing recently for the shares of many precious metal miners and the ETFs that track them.

	Left <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/05/2591844/can-things-get-any-worse-for-mining-etfs">for dead as recently as mid-May</a>, it appears as though the miners not only have their respective acts together, but that they want to participate in the upside being offered by the metals they extract from the earth as well.

	Since May 15, the returns offered by the three major precious metal mining ETFs are nothing short of staggering and the numbers are all the more impressive when remembering this is a risk of, "let's discard anything high beta" market environment. Since May 15, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdx#NYSE">GDX</a>), the largest precious metals mining ETF, has jumped more than 18%. GDX's junior counterpart, the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdxj#NYSE">GDXJ</a>) is up more than 13% while the Globla X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>) is flirting with a gain of 11%.

	That trio is the "Big 3" of precious metals mining funds, but there are other options to consider in this space, some of which your broker is probably neglecting to mention.

	Global X Gold Explorers ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gldx#NYSE">GLDX</a>) 
	For all the fanfare that mining ETFs have been subject to, the Global X Gold Explorers ETF has flown under the radar since its November 2010 debut. Today, the fund has almost $31.5 million in assets under management and has surged almost 15% in the past two weeks. As of this writing on June 6, GLDX is up almost 4% on volume that's nearly double the daily average indicating investors are starting to warm to this sub-$10 fund.

	GLDX is in fact quite different than GDX. The Global X fund offers no exposure to U.S.-based companies as Canada and Australia combine for essentially all of the fund's country weight. GLDX's top-10 holdings account for about 56% of the fund's weight and the ETF has an expense ratio of 0.65%.

	Global X Pure Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gggg#NYSE">GGGG</a>) 
	The "Quad G's" is now 15 months old and isn't all that large with just $4.4 million in AUM, but this could be the time the unheralded fund solidifies itself. Up 15.2% since May 15, GGGG has outperformed GLDX and GDXJ over that time. GGGG is also cheaper than GLDX with an expense ratio of 0.59%.

	Home to almost 30 stocks, GGGG's country allocation is heavily tilted toward Canada and South Africa as those countries represent over 60% of the fund's weight. U.S. investors are probably familiar with some of the fund's top-10 holdings such as Eldorado Gold (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ego#NYSE">EGO</a>), Kinross Gold (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/kgc#NYSE">KGC</a>) and Allied Nevada (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/anv#NYSE">ANV</a>).

	Perhaps the most important thing to note about GGGG is that it has <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/628391-which-gold-miner-etf-has-the-highest-correlation-to-gold?source=yahoo">one of the lowest correlations to gold of any mining ETF, as ETFdb.com recently noted</a>.

	PowerShares Global Gold and Precious Metals Portfolio (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psau#Nasdaq">PSAU</a>) 
	The PowerShares Global Gold and Precious Metals Portfolio has been around for almost four years and since this fund is a direct competitor to the dominant GDX, it often goes ignored. PSAU and GDX do have plenty of overlap in terms of holdings. For example, Barrick Gold (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/abx#NYSE">ABX</a>), Newmont Mining (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/nem#NYSE">NEM</a>) and Goldcorp (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gg#NYSE">GG</a>) are top-10 holdings in both ETFs.

	PSAU's 14.1% jump since May 15 is impressive, but that lags GDX, a situation we suspect is attributable to GDX's larger weights to select gold miners. The aforementioned trio of stocks accounts for over 43% of GDX's weight, but barely more than 25% of PSAU's girth.

	iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>) 
	The iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund came to market earlier this year as a direct rival to the Global X Silver Miners ETF, but SLVP has struggled to attract assets. That should change as sentiment towards mining funds improves and it should be noted SLVP does have an advantage of SIL: The iShares product is cheaper. Still, it can't be ignored that since May 15, SLVP is up almost 6% (nice), but SIL is up almost 11% (better).

	iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ring#NYSE">RING</a>) 
	Home to one of the more appropriate tickers in the ETF universe, the iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund debuted at the end of January as a direct rival to GDX and PSAU. Competing with GDX's first-to-market advantage is tough as that fund has almost $9 billion in AUM.

	To RING's credit, it has almost $31 million in AUM and is cheaper than both GDX and PSAU while holding many of the same stocks. More importantly and almost completely under the radar, RING has surged almost 18% since May 15, making it the second-best performer of all the funds we've highlighted here behind only GDX.

	For more on gold mining ETFs, please click <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/05/2591844/can-things-get-any-worse-for-mining-etfs">HERE</a>.

GLDX

PowerShares Global Gold & Prcious metals Portfolio

PSAU

5 Mining ETFs Your Broker Forgot to Mention (PSAU, GLDX, RING)

It's an oft-pondered riddle: How can the shares of mining stocks lag and even fall when the prices of the metals they mine rise? A vexing scenario to be sure and one that gives to way to the harsh reality that if ABC Corp. mines gold or silver and it's stock price doesn't go up in conjunction with the futures price, then it's a lock that ABC's shares are going to be in for significant selling pressure when the price of the metal it extracts from the earth falls.

Welcome to that reality. In recent days, 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>), the two largest ETFs backed by physical holdings of the precious metals in their titles, have given up all of their 2012 gains and turned negative on the year. 

Those declines began in earnest in March and have accelerated rapidly since the start of April, forming a tidal wave that has sent gold and silver mining ETFs tumbling in even more dramatic fashion. There have been <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/04/2508171/bold-etf-call-of-the-day-embracing-gold-miners">bold calls in defense of the mining ETFs</a>, but to this point, sticking one's neck out for these funds has been akin to volunteering to go to the guillotine.

Here's how the landscape for gold and silver mining ETFs shapes up at the moment starting with the group's largest fund, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdx#NYSE">GDX</a>). GDX will observe its sixth birthday on May 16, but there's not much reason to celebrate. Following Tuesday's 4% drop, the ETF is trading below its $40 debut price, <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/05/2581745/what-happens-when-etfs-return-to-their-debut-prices">something we've established is a bearish sign</a>.

GDX traded as low as $17.80 in 2008 and while it would be a bold call to say the ETF falls that much further, it's worth noting the RSI on GDX's daily chart has only recently started to show an oversold condition. Some have <a href="http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111904571704577404463069517068.html?mod=BOL_qtoverview_barlatest">made a bull case for GDX's technicals</a> but that's a dangerous game to play at the moment.

As for the Global X Gold Explorers ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gldx#NYSE">GLDX</a>), let's just say this is a case of bad timing. The fund debuted in November 2011 and has managed to lose almost 58% since then. Tuesday's close at $7.10 wasn't just a 52-week low, it was an all-time low.

We should also take this opportunity to welcome the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdxj#NYSE">GDXJ</a>) to the all-time low club as well. Believe it or not, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/etfchannel/2012/05/15/gdxj-etf-inflow-alert/">investors have been putting new capital to work in this ETF</a>. To be precise, GDXJ has seen $90.3 million in inflows over the past week, according ETF Channel data. 

These days, purchases of GDXJ include an invitation to the "catch a falling knife" competition as the fund has lost 18% in the past week alone. Making things all the more inviting for short sellers is the fact that, like GDX, GDXJ has only just become oversold and at these levels, there may not be any support until the $14-$15 area.

Not surprisingly, silver mining ETFs, of which there are two, have not been peaches either. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>) lost 5% on volume that was nearly double the daily average on Tuesday. Once SIL violated support at $20 earlier this month, that was one more sign this party was going to turn nasty. This was a $26 ETF in March,

To be fair, SIL is not the only silver mining ETF offender. The iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>), which isn't even four months old, has lost a third of its value since its late January debut and is home to less than $2 million in AUM. SIL and SPLV <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/05/2579595/bye-bye-birdie-5-etfs-seeing-massive-redemptions">have seen more in the way of redemptions than creations, recently</a>. Duh.

Both funds have been damaged by their allocations to Silver Wheaton (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slw#NYSE">SLW</a>), Coeur d'Alene (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cde#NYSE">CDE</a>) and Pan American Silver (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/paas#Nasdaq">PAAS</a>), to name a few. 

Making matters worse are recent statements made on Monday by the World Gold Council that miners need bullion to trade at $1,300 an ounce to survive and will need gold to jump to $3,000 an ounce in <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/15/peru-mining-wgc-idUSL1E8GF0AR20120515">five years to remain profitable</a>. That's almost a double from current levels.

As investors already know, even if gold and silver get their respective acts together and start marching higher once again, there are no guarantees the miners will follow suit. That much has already been proven.

For more on gold mining ETFs, please click <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/04/2508171/bold-etf-call-of-the-day-embracing-gold-miners">HERE</a>.

Technicals

Pre-Market Outlook

PAAS

Can Things Get Any Worse For Mining ETFs? 

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.

AMLP

FDTS

FRAK

YMLP

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

The pace of new ETF introductions has again been impressive in 2012, but that doesn't mean <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/markets/bonds/12/03/2439513/checking-in-first-to-market-stud-emcb-lqd-eld">all new ETFs</a> are flourishing. 

Sure, there are examples of ETFs that are doing well in terms of assets under management right off the bat. The WisdomTree Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/emcb#Nasdaq">EMCB</a>) already has almost $60 million in AUM and it isn't even a month old. The Market Vectors Indonesia Small-Cap ETF (NYSE: IDXJ) already has $4 million in AUM and that fund is just a week old.

On the other hand, some rookie ETFs aren't giving reasons to leave more established funds or even look at the new kids on the block in the first place and that's referring either assets, performance or both. Surprisingly, some <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2310295/more-me-too-etfs-from-ishares-debut-today">copycat funds have made nary a dent against their older rivals</a>.

Examples include:

iShares MSCI Global Agriculture Producers Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/vegi#NYSE">VEGI</a>)
To be fair, the iShares MSCI Global Agriculture Producers Fund has slightly outperformed the Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/moo#NYSE">MOO</a>) since its early February debut. With an expense ratio of 0.39%, VEGI is cheaper than MOO, which charges 0.56%. 

We're not picking on VEGI, but this is the reality. With its thin volume, investors might encounter wide bid/ask spreads. That's a factor that will drive up costs and it's NOT an issue with MOO. Another cold hard fact is some ETFs have tried to compete with MOO in the past. All of have failed. MOO is the very definition of "first-to-market" advantage. 

VEGI probably won't head to the ETF graveyard because iShares doesn't have a tradition of closing ETFs, even its low asset, low volume funds, but the only other agribusiness ETF that really stands out is the IndexIQ Global Agribusiness Small-Cap ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/crop#NYSE">CROP</a>), which is more complement to than rival of MOO.

iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>)
Just to be clear, we're really not picking on iShares. In fact, the iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ring#NYSE">RING</a>) deserves credit for pulling in almost $22.4 million in AUM in less than two months of trading. On the other hand, SLVP has just $4.6 million in AUM. That could be a case of bad timing since silver has been sliding the past few weeks. 

Or we could be seeing a replay of the VEGI/MOO scenario. In terms of SLVP, that means that the first-to-market advantage for the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>) might prove too big to overcome.

Yorkville High Income MLP ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ymlp#NYSE">YMLP</a>)
The Yorkville High Income MLP ETF will be competing directly with the ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/amlp#NYSE">AMLP</a>) for investor dollars. We're not saying YMLP is a bad ETF. It already has almost $5 million in AUM, but there are issues to consider and those issues pertain to both AMLP and YMLP.

It has been noted these ETFs <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ymlp-etf-abomination-alert-001613722.html">do not have C-corporation structure</a> as nearly all other ETF do. Not having the C-corp. structure can cost investors money, indicating that owning individual MLPs or MLP ETNs might be preferable to investing in MLP ETFs.

After-Hours Center

CROP

EMCB

VEGI

Some New ETFs Not Up to Snuff (VEGI, YMLP)

The U.S. ETF industry is now home 1,440 products with over $1.2 trillion in combined assets under management according to the latest data from the ETF Industry Association and with the pace of new <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/news/12/03/2402411/ishares-to-roll-out-another-socially-responsible-etf-dsi-kld">ETF introductions racing higher</a> those numbers are sure to increase.

What's also likely to increase is the number of interesting rivalries in the ETF universe, the logical result of some ETF sponsors issuing new funds that <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2310295/more-me-too-etfs-from-ishares-debut-today">look a lot like old ones</a>. 

As has been noted, the first to market advantage is an important one for ETFs, but it's no guarantee that ETF will always be <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/11/10/1991207/five-etfs-that-lost-their-first-to-market-advantage">king of its respective hill</a>.

With that let's have a look at four potentially compelling ETF rivalries that, not surprisingly, all involve new iShares funds. In no particular order...

Hi Ho Silver
The battle for silver mining supremacy between the Global Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>), the first silver mining ETF, and the iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>) could be really interesting if for no other reason than that SLVP's expense ratio of 0.39% is a lot cheaper than SIL's 0.65%. Still, SIL has a distinct first-to-market advantage here and as the last few days have proven, SLVP's timing has been pretty lousy.

Since silver is so volatile, it's reasonable to surmise an ETF like SIL is used by short-term traders. In other words, SIL is optionable and has good liquidity. The same cannot yet be said of SLVP.

India Small Cap Style
This one could be interesting because it involves three contenders: The EGShares India Small Cap ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/scin#NYSE">SCIN</a>), the Market Vectors India Small Cap ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/scif#NYSE">SCIF</a>) and the new iShares MSCI India Small Cap Index Fund (BATS: SMIN). Unfortunately for SMIN, it may also fall victim to <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/03/2401194/checking-in-a-third-wheel-scif-scin-smin">bad timing</a>.

Trading on BATS may prove to be a boon or a problem for the new iShares offering and while iShares doesn't have a penchant for closing ETFs, it will be interesting to see how short of a leash is given to SMIN.

EM Dividends
There's a longstanding rivalry between iShares and State Street Global Advisors because they're the two biggest ETF sponsors and that rivalry could potentially expand as the SPDR S&amp;P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ediv#NYSE">EDIV</a>) and the iShares Emerging Markets Dividend Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/dvye#NYSE">DVYE</a>). 

EDIV just celebrated its first birthday and now holds almost $300 million in AUM, but DVYE, which oddly enough has the same inception date as EDIV, is off to a fine start with almost $11 million in AUM in less than two weeks of trading. The combination of emerging markets and dividends should be enough to ensure both of these ETFs stick around for a long time.

Nice In Norway
We figured <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/01/2294544/etf-showdown-nod-to-norway">this one had potential</a> That is the battle between the Global X Norway ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/norw#NYSE">NORW</a>) and the iShares MSCI Norway Capped Investable Market Index Fund (BATS: ENOR).

ENOR has done alright in terms of AUM since its late January debut and just over 9,200 shares per day in average volume is fair for a new ETF, but ENOR has lagged its Global X rival since its debut and that's a factor that cannot be overlooked in crowning a winner in any ETF showdown.

Small Cap Analysis

DVYE

EDIV

NORW

SCIF

Emerging Global Shares INDXX India Small Cap Fund

SCIN

Four Budding ETF Rivalries Worth Watching (NORW, SIL, SMIN)

Despite a strong January jobs report, the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slv#NYSE">SLV</a>), the largest ETF backed by physical holdings of the white metal, is trading lower by almost 2%. That may just a minor blip on the radar and healthy pullback because to say SLV has been on fire this year is an understatement. Buoyed by improving economic data in the U.S., silver futures have soared and SLV was flirting with a 20% year-to-date gain before the start of trading Friday.

More impressive is the fact that among both gold and silver, miners are finally keeping pace with the underlying metals. That condition was <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/etfs/commodities/11/08/1874430/dont-forget-about-this-gold-miners-etf">not present much last year</a>.

Resurgent mining stocks has been a boon for the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sil#NYSE">SIL</a>), which until earlier this week was the lone silver miners ETF on the market. Now, the Global X Silver Miners ETF has <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2310295/more-me-too-etfs-from-ishares-debut-today">some competition</a> and it comes in the form of the the iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slvp#NYSE">SLVP</a>). SLVP debuted on Thursday.

Sounds like we've got an ETF Showdown on our hands. According to the iShares Web site, the iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund, has already raked in more than $2.5 million in assets under management. That's good work in just two trading days, but SIL's first-to-market advantage should not be taken lightly. SIL, which will celebrate its fourth birthday in April, has nearly $373 million in AUM.

Since we're talking about silver miners and not oil or tech stocks, it's pretty easy to have some overlap among the ETFs' top-10 holdings. In order, these are SLVP's top-10 holdings: Silver Wheaton (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/slw#NYSE">SLW</a>), Buenaventura Mines (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bvn#NYSE">BVN</a>), Industria Penoles, Fresnillo, First Majestic (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ag#NYSE">AG</a>), Coeur D'Alene (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cde#NYSE">CDE</a>), Tahoe Resources, AuRico Gold (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/auq#NYSE">AUQ</a>), Pan American Silver (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/paas#Nasdaq">PAAS</a>) and Hochschild Mining.

Seven of those stocks appear in SIL's top-10 holdings. The three differences in SIL are Polymetal International, Silver Standard (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ssri#Nasdaq">SSRI</a>) and Silvercorp (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/svm#NYSE">SVM</a>). Overall, SIL is home to 31 stocks compared to 29 for the new iShares offering.

Neither ETF has much of U.S. feel to it as the States account for about 10% of each fund's country weight. Canada and Peru represent almost 70% of SLVP's weight and are the only countries in the ETF with double-digit allocations (the U.S. checks in at 9.6% to be precise). On the other hand, SIL gives double-digit weights to five countries – Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Russia and the U.S.

In SLVP's favor, the ETF's weight to Silver Wheaton, perhaps the silver stock U.S. investors are most familiar with, is almost 19% compared to almost 12% in SIL. Additionally, SIL features no exposure to Buenaventura, but that stock is 11.1% of SLVP's weight.

The big deal for many investors should be the fact that SIL has an expense ratio of 0.65% compared to 0.39% for SLVP. That's not bad news for SIL investors. In fact it might be good news. In recent years when iShares has encroached on a another ETF issuer's territory with a "me too" fund, the other issuer has at times responded by <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/news/11/09/1956652/van-eck-pares-expense-cap-for-brazil-small-cap-etf">lowering its own expense ratios</a>.

There is no guarantee Global X will do that with SIL, but it is a possibility. Then again, while many of the iShares copycat funds have proven successful, think the iShares MSCI Russia Capped Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/erus#NYSE">ERUS</a>) and the iShares MSCI Indonesia Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE EIDO) as two examples, they haven't always surpassed the original ETF in terms of AUM.

Combine SIL's size with a more diverse country portfolio and its first-to-market advantage and we'll stick with old man of silver miner ETFs until a legitimate reason to change course appears.

ERUS

SSRI

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AAAU

ADMLF

CORN

CPER

FNLPF

GATO

GLDM

GORO

NEWP

NUGT

OUNZ

PALL

PHYS

PSLV

SGOL

SIVR

SOYB

TFPM

VZLA

WEAT

iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF