ETFs To Play An Apple Inc. Rebound
Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) took their biggest one-day hit since January last week after concerns of the iCloud hacking incident spread. Because the stock was one day removed from an all-time high and was up 13 of the last 14 sessions, though, a sizable pullback should not be a major surprise.
How To Play A Rebound
Investors looking to gain some exposure to the stock after the five percent haircut could take a less risky approach by buying an ETF that has a large exposure to the stock. This strategy will allow an investor to benefit from an Apple bounce and also lower risk with diversification from stocks in other sectors.
The iShares U.S Technology ETF (NYSE:IYW), for example, tracks 141 stocks in the electronics, computer software and hardware, and technology sectors. With just under 35 percent of the total weight of the fund in its top three holdings, success is based largely on this trio. Those holdings are Apple, at 18.7 percent, Microsoft Corp. (NYSE:MSFT) at10.2 percent and IBM (NYSE:IBM) at5.5 percent. The ETF has performed very well of late, and is up 30.7 percent over the last 12 months and 11 percent over the last six months.
By comparison, the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSE:VGT) follows 412 technology stocks, easily making it one of the most diverse tech ETFs. It has a slightly less consolidated top three than itsiShares counterpartat 28 percent, but has a similar make up. Apple is the top holding (14.8 percent), followed by Microsoft (8.4 percent) and Google (8 percent). The ETF has gained 29 percent in the last 12 months and is up 9.4 percent over the six-month period.
The Powershares QQQ (NYSE:QQQ)andSPDR Select Sector Technology ETF (NYSE:XLK) are a couple other obvious options because of how they favor Apple; it's the top holding in both ETFs. A note onXLK: It has performed the worst of this group, up 26.6 percent over the last year and 10.3 percent in the past six months.
Put simply, all four ETFs offer investors exposure to an Apple rebound, and for investors seeking concetration, iShares' offering may be the most useful. Vanguard's IT ETF, on the other hand, gives shareholders the best diversification in the remainder of its portfolio.
Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Matthew McCall had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.
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