Courtesy of Benzinga
Another fairly eventful week for summertime trading is in the books and there are looming issues heading into the weekend, but that has been par for the course for almost all of 2011. Chief among those issues is the ability of the Obama administration and congressional leaders to make some headway on extending the U.S. debt ceiling, a problem that needs to be dealt with as Standard & Poor’s is threatening a downgrade to the U.S. credit rating.
S&P also notes that it could downgrade a broad swath of insurance firms, mortgage issuers and clearinghouses, among other financial institutions. For good measure, eight European banks failed stress tests. Indeed, financials will be in the spotlight next week and with that, here are next week’s ETFs To Watch.
iShares MSCI European Financials Index Fund (NYSE: EUFN): Somehow, someway this thinly-traded ETF found its way to small gain on Friday, but in the past month EUFN is down 6.2%. Names like BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) and UBS (NYSE: UBS) are found among EUFN’s top-10 holdings, meaning it should be in play for at least a few more days.
Market Vectors Gaming ETF (NYSE: BJK): Flying under the radar, BJK has actually been one of the better performing sector ETFs in recent weeks and the ETF is sporting a strong chart. Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) reports earnings Monday after the close and that could be an early-week catalyst for BJK.
Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLF): Too many banks and brokerages to list here step into the earnings confessional next week and if you’re looking for additional financial services ETFs to trade, we suggest the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Broker-Dealers ETF (NYSE: IAI) and the ProShares UltraShort Financials (NYSE: SKF).
PowerShares Dynamic Oil & Gas Portfolio (NYSE: PXJ): Across five different earnings reports scattered throughout next week, nearly 21% of PXJ’s weight will be talking earnings and outlook. There are also some technicals at play. Keep an eye on resistance at $25.50 and $26.50. If the latter is taken out, PXJ could see the low 30s by year-end.
iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV): We don’t want to commit to saying that the silver bulls are back, but after this week, it sure feels like. Any good news on the debt ceiling will pressure the dollar and spark more gains in gold and silver. Above $38, SLV looks attractive for a run to $45 or higher.
