Another Leg for Bull Stock Market

Is this another leg for bull stock market? Stocks indices close at a new high in week 8, 2015. Top performing industries are industrial textile, gaming activities, foreign regional banks, and biotech.

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 0.68%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 1.27%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 0.72%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 0.72%.

Top performing stock industries in week 8, 2015 (February 16, 2015 to February 22, 2015) are:

1. Textile Industrial 5.88%
2. Gaming Activities 5.57%
3. Foreign Regional Banks 4.78%
4. Drug Manufacturers – Other 4.58%
5. Biotechnology 4.53%
6. Major Airlines 4.48%
7. Copper 4.32%
8. Aerospace/Defense Products & Services 4.12%
9. Drugs – Generic 4.10%

Top 8 Baron Mutual Funds 2015

Baron Capital Management is one of the asset management firms in New York. Founded by Ron Baron, it offers mutual funds for retail investors, institutional, and non U.S. investors. The firm employs various strategies through its funds offering.

We review rankings from Morningstar, Lipper, Zacks, TheStreet.com, U.S. News, and Standard & Poor’s. You can learn from our methodology from variety of our previous articles.

Popular Baron Funds

You can find these popular Baron funds for different sectors such as U.S. stock fund, international stock fund, municipal bond fund, balanced fund, target date fund, taxable bond fund. Depend on your risk tolerance; you may pick and choose from this best Baron’s funds list.

Top Baron mutual funds 2015 are:

1. Baron Real Estate Fund (BREFX)
2. Baron Emerging Markets Fund (BEXFX)
3. Baron Growth Fund (BGRFX)
4. Baron Small Cap Fund (BSCFX)
5. Baron Partners Fund (BPTRX)
6. Baron Asset Fund (BARAX)

iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD)

iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) is an index stock ETF (Exchange Traded Fund). This equity fund is investing in large U.S. companies that are thought to be undervalued by the market relative to comparable companies.

Its objective is to track the investment results of an index composed of large- and mid-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit value characteristics. This stock fund provides low cost access to this index in a single fund for U.S. stocks.

IWF Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: 05/22/2000
• Ticker Symbol: IWD
• CUSIP: 464287598
• Rank in category (YTD): 38%
• Category: Large Value
• Yield: 2.17%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.20%
• Total Assets: $ 36.85 billion

Top Performing China Region ETFs 2015

China region ETFs have a great year for the past 1 year. These exchange traded funds are investing mainly in stocks of companies located in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Some fund may invest in certain sectors such as financial, industrial, commodity, etc.

Best Equity Funds

These top performing China region funds are selected based on its 1 year total return in 2014. Unlike mutual fund, these exchange traded funds don’t have a sales load or a transaction fee. You can find the fund review and other fund information below such as the yield, expense ratio, top holdings, top sectors, etc.

Top performing China region ETFs 2015 are:

1. PowerShares China A-Share ETF (CHNA)
2. Market Vectors ChinaAMC A-Share ETF (PEK)
3. Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI300 CHN A (ASHR)
4. Global X China Financials ETF (CHIX)
5. iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI)

Stock Indices Close at a New High

Stocks indices close at a new high in week 7, 2015. Top performing industries are gaming activities, semiconductor, lodging, etc.

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 2.10%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 3.15%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 1.26%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 1.50%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 6, 2015 (February 9, 2015 – February 15, 2015) are:

1. Gaming Activities 12.78%
2. Semiconductor- Memory Chips 9.30%
3. Networking & Communication Devices 7.26%
4. Lodging 7.04%
5. Electronic Equipment 6.48%
6. Computer Peripherals 6.28%
7. Industrial Metals & Minerals 6.17%
8. Copper 6.04%
9. Movie Production, Theaters 5.73%
10. Semiconductor - Integrated Circuits 5.70%

Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS)

Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS) is a popular gold closed end fund with $1.6 billion of assets. It invests in physical gold bullion. The fund objective is to provide an exchange traded alternative for investors interested in gold commodities.

PHYS Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 02/26/2010
• Ticker Symbol: PHYS
• CUSIP: 85207H104 
• Rank in category (YTD): 50%
• Category: US Equity-Commodities
• Distribution Rate: 0%
• Effective Leverage: -
• Capital Gains: -
• Base Expense Ratio: 0.35%
• Net Assets: $ 1.62 billion

Best Performing High Yield Bond Closed End Funds 2015

Find best performing high yield bond closed end funds 2015. Top funds are Babson Capital Corporate Investors Fund, Deutsche High Income Trust Fund, etc.

High Yield Debt Funds

These top performing closed end funds are selected based on its 1 year total return up to February 8, 2015. Most of these high yield bond funds may also be rated among the best in their category. I have also provided some details about its management, performance, expense ratio, initial investment requirement, risk, top holdings, etc.

Best performing high yield bond closed end funds 2015 are:

1. Babson Capital Corporate Investors Fund (MCI)
2. Deutsche High Income Opportunities Fund (DHG)
3. Deutsche High Income Trust Fund (KHI)
4. Putnam High Income Securities Fund (PCF)
5. Wells Fargo Advantage Income Opportunities Fund (EAD)
6. New America High Income Fund (HYB)