SPY SPDR S&P 500

Much to the bears’ frustrations, the bulls remain in the driver’s seat although their foot has eased off on the gas pedal considerably over the past two weeks. Overseas, the ECB dropped another hint of expanding stimulus while upbeat sentiment data from Germany helped to spark a minor rally across the currency bloc. At home, investors didn’t digest any major data releases, although a few were encouraging, including better-than-expected home builders index and existing home sales [see also Global X Debuts China Bonds ETF (CHNB)]. 

To help investors keep up with markets, we present our ETF Scorecard, which takes a step back and looks at how various asset classes across the globe are performing. For most of the return comparisons below, we reference trailing 1-week and trailing 1-month returns; this offers a good insight into the prevailing sentiment in the markets by capturing the performances across short-term and longer-term time intervals [for more ETF news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Risk Appetite Review

The bulls remain in control as evidenced by positive returns across the board, although their risk appetite has contracted a bit seeing as how Low Volatility outperformed High Beta: 

google.load('visualization', '1', {packages: ['corechart']}); function drawVisualization() { // Create and populate the data table. var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([ ['Ticker', '5-Day Return', {role: 'style'}], ['S&P 500 (SPY)', 0.68, 'blue'], ['Equal Weight (RSP)', 0.96, 'orange'], ['High Beta (SPHB)', 0.25, 'red'], ['Low Volatility (SPLV)', 0.41, 'green'], ]); var formatter = new google.visualization.NumberFormat( {suffix: "%"}); formatter.format(data,1); // Create and draw the visualization. new google.visualization.BarChart(document.getElementById('visualization105191')). draw(data, {title:"Comparing Risk Preferences", width:700, height:400, vAxis: {title: ""}, hAxis: {title: ""}} ); } google.setOnLoadCallback(drawVisualization); Major Index Review

The Nasdaq-100 turned in the best performance for a second week in a row, while Small Caps were the worst performers, ending in red territory: 

// // Domestic Sector Review

The Energy and Materials sectors were the best performers, while Financials was the only one to end the week in red: 

  // // Foreign Equity Review

On the international front, Brazil, Russia, and Germany posted the biggest gains for the week while China and Australia were the biggest laggards, ending in red: 

google.load('visualization', '1', {packages: ['corechart']}); function drawVisualization() { // Create and populate the data table. var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([ ['Index', '1-Week Return', '1-Month Return'], ['Brazil (EWZ)', 3.73, 3.24], ['Russia (RSX)', 3.14, 0.29], ['India (EPI)', 0.09, 3.32], ['China (FXI)', -3, -0.03], ['Japan (EWJ)', -1.87, 2.94], ['Australia (EWA)', -3.19, -2.68], ['Germany (EWG)', 2.9, 4.22], ['United Kingdom (EWU)', 0.37, 2.36], ]); var formatter = new google.visualization.NumberFormat( {suffix: "%"}); formatter.format(data,1); formatter.format(data,2); var options = { title:"", width:700, height:400, title: "Geographic Review: Comparing Single Countries", colors: ["green", "orange"] }; // Create and draw the visualization. new google.visualization.ColumnChart(document.getElementById('visualization105200')). draw(data, options); } google.setOnLoadCallback(drawVisualization); Alternatives Review

Commodities

Natural gas was the biggest winner over the past week and is also by far the biggest winner from a monthly perspective: 

// //

Currencies

On the currency front, the Japanese yen was the worst performer over the past week and remains the biggest laggard from a monthly perspective: 

  // //

*All data as of market close 11/20/2014.

Follow me on Twitter @Sbojinov.

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Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

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