The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: SPY, IVV, TLT, XLF and VTI

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 14, 2021 – 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. Etfs recently featured in the blog include: SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (NASDAQ:TLT) ETF TLT, Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF VTI.

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

5 ETFs Investors Loved Most Last Week

Broad equity ETFs pulled in handsome amounts last week as jitters over the Omicron coronavirus variant eased. This is especially true as ETFs overall gathered about $18.1 billion capital last week (from Dec 3-9), bringing inflows of $816.3 billion year to date. U.S. equity ETFs led the way higher last week with $9.4 billion inflows, closely followed by $5.5 billion in U.S. fixed-income ETFs and $1.5 billion in international equity ETFs, per etf.com.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF dominated the top creation list last week.

Stock Market Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS)

Wall Street was on a smooth ride last week with the major bourses in green. The blue-chip Dow Jones Index jumped 4% — its best weekly performance since March. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index logged in their best weekly performance since early February, climbing 3.8% and 3.6%, respectively.

Most of the rally was driven by the comeback in technology stocks as investors jumped into the sector to tap the beaten down prices. Optimism that the Omicron variant is less fearful than expected rekindled investors’ confidence in riskier assets. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser, said that early indications of Omicron suggest that it may be less dangerous than the Delta variant (read: 5 Top-Ranked ETFs to Buy At Bargain Prices).

Additionally, British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) added to the strength by saying that its monoclonal antibodies treatment is effective against all strains of the Omicron variant, based on new data.

We have detailed the ETFs below:

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust topped asset flow creation last week, gathering $3 billion in capital. It tracks the S&P 500 Index and holds 505 stocks in its basket, with each accounting for no more than 7% of assets. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is heavy on the information technology sector, while healthcare, consumer discretionary, financials and communication services round off the next four spots with a double-digit allocation each.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust charges investors 9 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 61.4 million shares. It has AUM of $430 billion and a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) with a Medium risk outlook (read: Forget Omicron: Tap S&P 500 ETFs for At Least 6% Gains in 2022).

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has pulled in $1.8 billion in capital. It tracks the S&P 500 Index and holds 505 stocks in its basket, with each accounting for no more than 7% of assets. IVV is heavy on the information technology sector while healthcare, consumer discretionary, financials and communication round off its next four spots with a double-digit allocation each.

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF charges investors 3 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 4.1 million shares. It has AUM of $330.7 billion and a Zacks ETF Rank #2 with a Medium risk outlook.

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF accumulated $1.7 million last week, taking its total AUM to $19.4 billion. It is the most popular and liquid ETF in the long-dated bond space with an average daily volume of 16.3 million shares.

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF tracks the ICE (NYSE:ICE) U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index, holding 35 securities in its basket. The fund has an average maturity of 26.09 years and an effective duration of 19.31 years. iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF charges 15 bps in fees per year.

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund

The ultra-popular Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund accumulated $1.5 billion last week. It seeks to provide exposure to 65 companies in banks, capital markets, insurance, diversified financial services, and consumer finance (read: 5 Top-Ranked ETFs to Invest in December).

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund has AUM of $43.7 billion and charges 12 bps in annual fees. It trades in an average daily volume of 53.2 million shares and carries a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a Medium risk outlook.

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF has gathered $1.1 billion in capital, taking its total AUM to $294.3 billion. It provides exposure to the broader stock market by tracking the CRSP US Total Market Index. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF holds a large basket of well-diversified 4,124 stocks with key holdings in technology, consumer discretionary, industrials, healthcare and financials.

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF charges 3 bps in fees per year from investors and trades in an average daily volume 3.3 million shares. VTI has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 with a Medium risk outlook.

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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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iShares 20 Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT): ETF Research Reports

SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): ETF Research Reports

Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLF): ETF Research Reports

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): ETF Research Reports

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): ETF Research Reports

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