The ETF rankings through last Friday (a non trade day) are shown below:

ETF Rankings — 2/17/2017

EWX, an emerging markets fund, has moved into first place. VWO is also an emerging markets fund. Four of the top five this week are world rather than US oriented.

The highest momentum for February was EWG. It now has fallen out of the top ten and ranks 19th. Through Friday, it showed a small profit of 0.40%.

Looking back over the last several weeks (say to column WkBk4 rankings — 4 weeks back) provides a way to judge the internals of the market. Four weeks ago only three of the ETFs currently ranked in the top ten ranked there. Two of these declined in ranking while the other held constant. This degree of turnover in top ten rankings generally signals a change in the character of the market.

International is clearly moving up in terms of recent momentum. Four of the top five rankings are now international. The other notable change has been mining (primarily gold) stocks. For the first time in quite a while GDX and GDXJ have appeared in the top ten. Eight weeks ago they were near the bottom.

Another international ETF, FXI (China) has moved dramatically upward.

None of these major movers has moved high enough to be considered at this point. Such movement does suggest changes in the composition of markets as measured by the ETF universe used in these studies. Sometimes such movement provides previews of how the rankings might look in the future.

Again, I admit an intellectual concern regarding high international ratings. With everything we know about what is going on outside (and inside) the US, money invested internationally seems misplaced. However, technical readings are devoid of prejudices. They are what they are. If one is to become a successful technical trader, then one must ignore “tips”, so-called “insider information” and other preconceptions. For many that is difficult to do.

Technical Picture

The chart introduced last week is presented here for the current number one ranked ETF:

Readers should refer to the commentary from last week’s TA chart as a guideline for interpreting this week’s. There is nothing in the chart above that provides negative signals with regard to the number one ranking. Of course, nothing can foresee the future. All charts can do is measure what occurred in the past. That is true of momentum rankings. To the extent that you want to follow any kind of technical analysis, remember that it cannot accurately predict the future. The best that can be said is that patterns like these have sometimes produced successful outcomes in the future.

These rankings are for educational purposes only. They rank ETFs in terms of a proprietary formula for momentum. The formula has produced good backtest results. Nothing said or shown here should be taken as a recommendation to buy or sell any security.