[10/01/24] Recession Fears Abate

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WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF ETF FILINGS, LAUNCHES & CLOSURES

What happened to the looming recession?

An economic retrenchment seemed less likely last week with the Atlanta Fed estimating solid-if-not spectacular 3.1% growth in third-quarter gross domestic product, up from its 2.9% projection less than two weeks ago.

“Highest of the quarter,” wrote Bianco Research analyst Jim Bianco in an X post.

The Atlanta Fed noted that growth data offset declines in other places, including real personal consumption expenditures.

To be sure, manufacturing activity contracted in August, its fifth consecutive monthly decline, and analysts are forecasting that U.S. nonfarm payrolls will have added just 144,000 jobs in September, just 2,000 more than in the previous month.

Markets were trading largely sideways on Monday with the S&P and tech-heavy Nasdaq both down after setting multiple highs last week and weighing multiple macroeconomic uncertainties.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) were slightly in the green.

Meanwhile, wider sentiment is pointing upward. The Richmond Fed’s latest quarterly survey of CFOs released last week found that optimism about the economy has risen while inflation worries have dipped. And the University of Michigan latest Consumer Sentiment Index was also more upbeat. “Sentiment appears to be building some momentum,” said Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu.

By James Rubin

Below is a roundup of the key developments in the ETF industry for the seven-day period ending Sept. 27:

ETF Spotlight: MCHI Rises After China Stimulus Package While the fund rose about 8% on Thursday, etf.com Analyst Sumit Roy is skeptical about further gains.

ETF Investors Take Notice as Gold Hits Fresh Record High Gold ETF flows are close to breakeven for the year.

SPY's Big Outflows Hamper State Street: Morningstar No. 3 ETF issuer questions data, as SPY, its flagship fund, has lost a net $26.9 billion this year in outflows.

Bitcoin ETFs Hit New High of $17.7B in Inflows The funds have generated $250 million in the two trading days since the Fed cut interest rates.

T-Rex, Tuttle Debut Leveraged Netflix ETF The single-stock ETF represents a move to the next level of leveraged strategies.

Featured Fund

iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG)

IEMG offers outstanding coverage of emerging markets. As part of the line of 'Core' ETFs from BlackRock, it offers very similar but more comprehensive exposure than its sister fund EEM by including smaller firms in the portfolio. The fund has $83 billion in assets under management and carries a low .09% expense ratio.

WHAT TO WATCH

BlackRock Reshapes Two Muni Bond Funds for ETF Market iShares’ parent BlackRock converts mutual fund to ETF, revamps existing ETF. Read More

Smaller Stock ETFs Like IWM, IJH Gain on Fed Policy Equal-weight RSP is pulling away from lopsided SPY in risk-on mood. Read More

What Is an Emerging Markets ETF? The Complete Guide Learn the potential benefits and risks of investing in developing countries. Read More

Investors Plowed $15B Into These ETFs After Fed Rate Cut ETF investors were bullish on stocks after the Fed decision. Read More

Gold ETF GLD Glitters as Fed Rate Cut Nears Gold neared an all-time high as the dollar weakens ahead of Fed actions. Read More

Chinese Stimulus Spurs China ETF Spike The emerging market economy sparked a rally for MCHI, KWEB, FXI. Read More

TALK ETF’S VIDEO SERIES

Schwab recently debuted its first actively-managed fixed income ETF—the Schwab Ultra-Short Income ETF (SCUS). In this episode of Talk ETFs, etf.com Senior Analyst Sumit Roy and DJ Tierney, director and senior investment portfolio strategist at Schwab Asset Management, discussed the new fund. Watch Now

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