Courtesy of Benzinga.
To this point, 120 S&P 500 constituents have delivered quarterly results. This week alone, nearly 140 do the same. Not only will this week’s report put the S&P 500 over the halfway mark in terms of earnings updates, these reports and any subsequent guidance will test the market’s potential to trade higher over the near-term.
With Europe once again looming large, earnings updates may not be the first thing on the minds of investors. That does not change the fact that some of the largest U.S. companies step into the earnings confessional this week. Here are some of the ETFs traders might want to get acquainted with in preparation for this week’s earnings deluge.
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Sector Index Fund (NYSE: IYW) Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) reports results Tuesday after the market closes and that could mean it is time to shine for the often overlooked iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Sector Index Fund.
Proving that plenty of so-called experts are not really experts at all when it comes to ETFs, IYW is not the most talked about ETF when it comes to proxies on Apple. Well, IYW should be, because it is the ETF with the largest weight to Apple, currently at almost 23 percent.
Smaller IYW constituents Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) also report this week.
PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio (NASDAQ: PNQI) The earnings action for the PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio will keep going today when Chinese Internet giant Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) reports after the close. With an allocation of 7.4 percent, Baidu is PNQI’s fifth-largest holding.
The hits do not end there for PNQI. Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), almost 2.6 percent of the ETF’s weight, reports Tuesday. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), the fund’s third-largest holding, and Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), another top-ten holding, report on Thursday.
Industrial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLI) The Industrial Select Sector SPDR has been trading in a tight range for about two months. This week could be make or break for the ETF, which is chock full of economically sensitive companies. Tuesday through Thursday is going to be a busy three-day stretch that could determine XLI’s near-term fate.
In those three days, UPS (NYSE: UPS), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), Boeing (NYSE: BA), 3M (NYSE: MMM) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) will report. All five are top-ten holdings in XLI and the five combine for roughly a quarter of XLI’s total weight.
Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLE) Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), a top-ten holding in XLE, is trading more than 2 percent higher today after saying it sees an improved North America market next year. That is not enough to prop up XLE though. The ETF is wilting under the stress of another bad day for stocks.
In order for XLE to keep sellers at bay, it needs to keep closing above $67. The catalysts are there to help or hinder the ETF this week. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) reports Wednesday, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) reports Thursday and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) on Friday. That trio represents 39 percent of XLE’s weight.
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