COMMENTARY:
- The S&P500 fell slightly this week, down 24 basis points. The index produced meaningful gains through Thursday and gave most of it back during Friday’s session, after US consumer sentiment sank to a seven-month low in early February, undershooting forecasts. Also, inflation expectations jumped amid concerns about Trump’s tariff threats.
- Real Estate took the top spot this week, up 1.3%. Freddie Mac data pointed to a tick down for 30 mortgage rates and the construction industry added 4k new jobs in January. Camden Property Trust (+4.8%) and Welltower (+4.5%) contributed to the index return.
- Energy rose 1.0% for the week. Texas Pacific Land (+3.7%), Marathon Petroleum (+3.0%), and Hess Corp. (+2.8%) were the highest returning constituent in the index.
- Consumer Discretionary dropped 2.8% for the period. Companies that tend to need economic certainty now seem to be susceptible to the negative economic impacts of potential tariffs. Apparel company NIKE and Elon Musk’s Tesla, fell the most both down ~10.7%.
- Seven of the 11 sectors outperformed the broader S&P500 for the week, while four underperformed.
ETF TIDBITS:
Crypto-Focused ETF Applications Surge, applications for Solana and Litecoin ETFs while the Cboe pushed for XRP products, marking a shift in crypto fund oversight, as the SEC lightens up the process.
Simplify debuts Simplify Currency Strategy ETF (FOXY), designed to hedge currencies looks to benefit from the current geopolitical environment.
Pacer ETFs bolstered its library of funds with the debut of the Pacer PE/VC ETF (PEVC). Which will track the FTSE PA/VC Index and offers mixed exposure to private equity buyout and venture capital strategies.
