The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: FXY, BTAL, IWM, NURE and DIVA

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – May 8, 2019 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Invesco CurrencyShares Japanese Yen FXY, AGFiQ US Market Neutral Anti-Beta BTAL, iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM, Nuveen Short-Term REIT ETF NURE and AGFiQ Hedged Dividend Income Fund DIVA.

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Beat Renewed Trade Tensions with These ETFs

The U.S.-China trade spat escalated all over again while it was on the verge of being resolving. Just when the global investing world took it as all settled, Trump said in a Sunday afternoon Twitter post that the current 10% tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods will jump to 25% on Friday. Moreover,  Trump also said that he will impose 25% levies on an extra $325 billion of Chinese goods “shortly,” per CNBC. Following the latest tweet, China is reportedly mulling over canceling this week’s trade negotiations.

Investors should note that President Donald Trump announced a delay in the increase of tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese goods in late February, citing “substantial progress” in trade talks with Beijing.

A group of market watchers believe that Trump’s decision to more than double the tariff rate on $200 billion of goods was intended to warn China not to start negotiations with more “empty offers,” per CNBC (read: US-China Trade Tensions Re-Escalate: 7 Vulnerable ETF Areas).

Needless to say, global market skidded on the news. Asian shares are hovering around a five-week low. Given this renewed uncertainty, there could be a surge in safety-seeking trading activities in the coming days. Also, the investing areas that are less trade-sensitive could see better trading in the near term. Investors thus could take refuge in the below-mentioned ETFs.

Invesco CurrencyShares Japanese Yen 

The product is designed to track the price of the Japanese yen, which is considered as a safe-haven asset. The fund charges 40 bps in fees. It was up 0.15% on May 6.

AGFiQ US Market Neutral Anti-Beta 

Investors, who want to shift their focus to low-beta stocks in this uncertain market environment, can consider adding BTAL ETF to their portfolio. This fund follows the Dow Jones U.S. Thematic Market Neutral Anti-Beta Index benchmark. The index identifies the lowest-beta stocks and goes long on them, while at the same time going short on the highest-beta stocks. The fund charges 76 bps in fees and added 0.4% on May 6(read: Long/Short ETFs to Survive Market Turmoil).

iShares Russell 2000 ETF

Small-cap stocks perform exceptionally well in an improving economy and are less susceptible to global market shocks. With the U.S. economy gaining traction as evident from better consumer spending, solid jobs and GDP data, we can be sanguine that the United States is better positioned in the developed market pack. One should try to cash in on the momentum by betting on IWM. Small-cap investing wards off global shocks like trade war (read: US Q1 GDP Growth Trumps Expectations: ETF Areas to Win).

Nuveen Short-Term REIT ETF

If the market crashes, U.S. treasury yields will likely retreat on a surge in safe-haven demand. And if bond yields nosedive, the rate-sensitive sector REIT will likely score higher, benefiting NURE. The fund yields about 3.28% annually. The fund added more than 0.1% on May 6 (read: What Sell in May? Buy These ETFs Instead).

AGFiQ Hedged Dividend Income Fund 

The fund follows the INDXX Hedged Dividend Income Index, which generates a high current yield and capital appreciation with risk similar to that of a corporate bond index. The index rebalances monthly by identifying the highest-dividend stocks as long positions, and the lowest-dividend stocks as short positions. The fund yields 4.59% annually. The fund is down only 0.1% on May 6.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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Invesco CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY): ETF Research Reports
 
AGFiQ US Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund (BTAL): ETF Research Reports
 
iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM): ETF Research Reports
 
AGFiQ Hedged Dividend Income Fund (DIVA): ETF Research Reports
 
Nuveen Short-Term REIT ETF (NURE): ETF Research Reports
 
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