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15 Top Performing Fidelity Funds In Q3 2015

The performance of Fidelity mutual funds fell in the third quarter from the second quarter and mirrored the broader trend of declining returns in July-September 2015. The third quarter of 2015 ended up giving the worst performance for the benchmarks since Sep 2011. In the third quarter, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq declined 7.6%, 7% and 7.4%, respectively. Obviously, it was difficult for mutual funds as well. In fact, calling the third quarter a bloodbath will not be far from the truth. Just 17% of mutual funds managed to finish in the green in the third quarter. This was a slump from 41% in the second quarter, which was also a sharp fall from 87% of the funds that ended in the positive territory in the first quarter. Reflecting the broader trend of slumping returns, Fidelity’s top-gainer in the third quarter, Fidelity Spartan Long Treas Adv (MUTF: FLBAX ), could post only 5.5% return. In fact, except for this fund’s Investor class fund, Fidelity Spartan Long Treas Inv (MUTF: FLBIX ), there was no other that managed a 5% plus gain. The majority of gainers in the third quarter posted flimsy returns of 1-2%. However, FLBAX’s gain of 5.5% helped Fidelity to beat other key fund families, which we will discuss later. Fidelity’s Performance in Q3 vs. Q2 Out of the 971 funds we studied, just 111 funds managed to finish in the green. However, the gains were very modest as all these funds posted an average gain of 1.2%. In comparison, 504 funds out of 950 funds had finished in the positive territory in the second quarter. But the larger concern here is that while only 22 funds suffered above 5% loss in the second quarter, 655 funds ended the third quarter with more than 5% negative returns. Out of the 857 funds that finished in the red in the third quarter, 189 funds lost at least 10%. The average loss for these 857 funds was a worrying 8%. (Note: These numbers include same funds of different classes). The biggest loser among the Fidelity funds in the third quarter was Fidelity Adv China Region C (MUTF: FCHKX ), which nosedived 26.3%. This is completely in contrast to what happened in the second quarter, when Fidelity’s best gainer Fidelity China Region Fund (MUTF: FHKCX ) added 11.6%. China region funds were robust gainers in the second quarter and the country was the third-best category performer in the first half of 2015 as well. However this time, the worst performer is the China category. This is a result of the market rout that the China region suffered since mid June. In fact, China-led global growth worries were primarily responsible for the market rout in key markets across the globe; eventually pushing most mutual funds lower. Also, the 11.6% gain from FHKCX had helped Fidelity to beat other prominent fund families like Vanguard, BlackRock and American Funds to mention a few in the second quarter. In the third quarter, Fidelity failed to beat Vanguard, the best gain of which hit 8.4% by Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury Index Fund Institutional (MUTF: VEDTX ). In a quarter ravaged by headwinds, mutual funds from the Vanguard Group gave a decent performance. However, Fidelity managed to beat both BlackRock and American Funds. From the American Funds stable, American Funds US Govt Sec R5 (MUTF: RGVFX ) was the best performer with timid gains of 1.7% in the quarter. BlackRock’s best performer was Blackrock US Real Estate Sec Str I (MUTF: BIREX ), which gained 2.4%. Franklin Templeton’s best gainer also belonged to the Real Estate category. Franklin Real Estate Sec R6 (MUTF: FSERX ) gained 3.4%, falling short of Fidelity. Watch out for our Mutual Fund Commentary section in the coming days, wherein we will be reporting on performances and best picks from fund families and varied categories. Top 15 Fidelity Funds in Q3 Below we present the top 15 Fidelity funds with best returns in 3Q 2015: Fund Name Objective Description Q3 Total Return Q3 % Rank vs Obj YTD Total Return % Yield Expense Ratio Beta vs S&P 500 Load Fidelity Spartan Long Treas Inv Government 5.49 1 – 2.55 0.2 -0.06 N Fidelity Select Retailing Other 3.17 1 9.78 0.22 0.81 1.03 N Fidelity Spartan Rl Est Index Inv Real Est 2.84 10 -3 2.25 0.23 0.53 N Fidelity Real Estate Investment Real Est 2.76 12 -2.7 1.62 0.78 0.51 N Fidelity Spartan Inter Treas Inv Government 2.59 4 2.98 1.79 0.2 -0.01 N Fidelity Adv CA Muni Inc A Muni CA 1.7 37 1.69 2.87 0.79 -0.02 Y Fidelity Adv NY Muni Income A Muni NY 1.59 23 1.91 2.69 0.78 -0.03 Y Fidelity Series Real Estate Eqty Real Est 1.59 40 -3.65 1.56 0.75 0.54 N Fidelity Adv Muni Income A Muni Natl 1.49 26 1.32 3.14 0.8 -0.01 Y Fidelity Adv Real Estate Fund A Real Est 1.44 41 -3.93 1.27 1.11 0.55 Y Fidelity Government Income Fund Government 1.41 10 1.33 1.35 0.45 -0.01 N Fidelity Adv Government Income A Government 1.33 11 1.09 1.04 0.77 -0.01 Y Fidelity Mortgage Securities Govt-Mtg 1.32 11 1.78 2.14 0.46 0.01 N Fidelity Spartan US Bond Index Inv Corp-Inv 1.28 3 0.99 2.28 0.22 – N Fidelity Adv Mortgage Secs A Govt-Mtg 1.24 16 1.51 1.79 0.82 0.01 Y Note: The list excludes the same funds with different classes, and institutional funds have been excluded. Funds having minimum initial investment above $5000 have been excluded. Q3 % Rank vs Objective* equals the percentage the fund falls among its peers. Here, 1 being the best and 99 being the worst. The best 15 Vanguard mutual fund performers are primarily from three varied categories. These are Government Bond, Real Estate and Municipal Bond mutual funds. This was expected, as Long Government was the second best performing category in the third quarter, according to Morningstar. From this category, four funds made it to the best gainers’ list. These are Fidelity Spartan Long Treas Inv, Fidelity Spartan Inter Treas Inv (MUTF: FIBIX ), Fidelity Government Income Fund (MUTF: FGOVX ) and Fidelity Adv Government Income A (MUTF: FVIAX ). While FLBIX and FIBIX carry a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy), FGOVX and FVIAX carry a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #2 (Buy). Meanwhile, Fidelity Mortgage Securities (MUTF: FMSFX ) and Fidelity Adv Mortgage Secs A (MUTF: FMGAX ) from the Government Mortgage category also found a place in the list. Both FMSFX and FMGAX carry a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1. Separately, many sub Municipal fund categories, such as Muni California Long, Muni Pennsylvania and Muni New York Long, featured in the top performers’ list for the third quarter. However, the gains were modest, with Muni California Long performing the best, notching up a 1.7% gain in the quarter. Three funds from this category, Fidelity Adv CA Muni Inc A (MUTF: FCMAX ), Fidelity Adv NY Muni Income A (MUTF: FNMAX ) and Fidelity Adv Muni Income A (MUTF: FAMUX ) featured in the best performers’ list. While FCMAX and FNMAX carry a Strong Buy rank, FAMUX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #3 (Hold). Apart from the Government and Municipal categories, Real Estate was also in the top list of fund category performers. The sector returned nearly 1.4% in the third quarter. Four Fidelity funds feature in the list of the top 15 gainers. These are Fidelity Spartan Rl Est Index Inv (MUTF: FRXIX ), Fidelity Real Estate Investment (MUTF: FRESX ), Fidelity Series Real Estate Eqty (MUTF: FREDX ) and Fidelity Adv Real Estate Fund A (MUTF: FHEAX ). However, FRESX and FHEAX carry a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #4 (Sell) and Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #5 (Strong Sell). FRXIX is the only fund here that carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 while FREDX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #3 (Hold). Original post .

Better-Than-Expected Q3 Earnings Lift Industrial ETFs

Despite global growth slowdown, most of the major industrial players managed to beat earnings estimates in the past one week. This along with better-than-expected U.S. jobless claims and dovish comments from the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to record its best point and percentage gain in yesterday’s (October 22, 2015) trading session since September 8. However, revenue weakness was widespread among the industrial players. The blame goes largely to the stronger dollar as most of these companies have significant international exposure resulting in an unfavorable currency impact. Industrial Earnings in Focus General Electric Company (NYSE: GE ) Diversified industrial conglomerate General Electric posted stellar third quarter performance as it was able to surpass expectations for both earnings and revenues. The company’s operating earnings rose year over year to $3.3 billion or 32 cents a share in the quarter owing to stringent cost-cutting and simplification initiatives. Operating earnings exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6 cents (read: Industrial ETFs in Focus on GE Restructuring Plans ). Revenues fell slightly to $31,680 million from $32,107 million in the year-earlier quarter due to lower Industrial segment and GE Capital revenues. However, total revenue topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $28,666 million. Organic revenue growth for the Industrial segment was 4% for the quarter. Shares of GE rose 2.6% since its earnings release on October 16 (as of October 22, 2015) (read: 3 Industrial ETFs to Play on GE Q3 Earnings Beat ). 3M Company (NYSE: MMM ) Another major conglomerate, 3M Company reported earnings of $2.05 per share for third-quarter 2015, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.01 and increasing 3.5% year over year. The decline in shares outstanding for the latest quarter boosted earnings per share Net sales during the quarter were $7,712 million, down 5.2% year over year and short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,895 million. The year-over-year decrease in sales was largely due to a significant negative foreign currency translation impact. However, the company achieved organic local-currency sales growth of 1.2%. 3M shares went up 4.1% in yesterday’s trading session post earnings release. Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON ) Honeywell International’s adjusted earnings per share escalated 9.8% to $1.57 in the reported quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.55. The uptick in earnings was driven by improved cost management and margins. Revenues in third-quarter 2015 decreased 5% year over year to $9,611 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9,884 million. The decrease in revenues was due to the unfavorable foreign currency impact and divestiture of Friction Material. However, Honeywell delivered 1% core organic sales growth. Shares of the company rose 3.8% since its earnings release on October 16. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT ) Mining and equipment behemoth Caterpillar posted disappointing results compared to its peers. The company’s third-quarter 2015 adjusted earnings plunged 56% to 75 cents per share, reflecting the ongoing weakness in mining and oil and gas industries. Earnings, however, came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues declined 19% year over year to $10.96 billion in the quarter, failing to match the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.11 billion due to the unfavorable currency impact along with lower volumes. Nevertheless, shares of Caterpillar rose 2.9% following the earnings release in yesterday’s trading session. Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP ) The rail transportation operator, Union Pacific reported third-quarter 2015 earnings of $1.50 per share, which came in well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43. Earnings, however, declined 2% on a year-over-year basis. Revenues decreased 10% year over year to $5.56 billion in the third quarter, falling short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.65 billion. A 10% decline in freight revenues hurt the top line. Further, declining coal shipments weighed on the railroad operator’s results yet again. However, shares of the company rose 3.8% following its results in yesterday’s trading session. ETF Impact The upward movement in major industrial stocks caused the shares of industrial ETFs to trade in the green in the past five days (as of October 22, 2015). Below we discuss three of these ETFs having a sizeable exposure to the above stocks. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA: XLI ) This product provides exposure to 66 industrial stocks by tracking the Industrial Select Sector Index. General Electric occupies the top spot with 11.5% allocation, while 3M, Caterpillar, Honeywell and Union Pacific have a combined exposure of roughly 16.7% in the fund. XLI has garnered $7 billion in assets and trades in a heavy volume of 10.9 million shares per day. It has a low expense ratio of 0.15%. The product gained 3.4% in the past five days and currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a Medium risk outlook. The Vanguard Industrials ETF (NYSEARCA: VIS ) This fund follows the MSCI US IMI Industrials 25/50 index and holds about 345 securities in its basket. Of these firms, GE occupies the top position with 11.5% share, while 3M, Honeywell and Union Pacific together comprise 10.8% of the fund’s assets. The fund manages nearly $2 billion in its asset base and charges only 12 bps in annual fees. Volume is moderate as it exchanges roughly 105,000 shares a day on average. The product returned 2.6% in the past five days and currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium risk outlook. The iShares U.S. Industrials ETF (NYSEARCA: IYJ ) IYJ tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Industrials Index to provide exposure to 213 U.S. companies that produce goods used in construction and manufacturing. General Electric occupies the top spot in the fund with 11.4% share while 3M, Caterpillar, Honeywell and Union Pacific have a combined exposure of roughly 11.5%. The ETF manages an asset base of $587 million and trades in an average volume of 82,000 shares. The fund is slightly expensive with 43 basis points as fees. It rose 2.5% in the last five days and currently has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) with a Medium risk outlook. Link to the original post on Zacks.com

Bottom-Fishing With These Commodity ETFs?

After a stretch of nine awful months, broad commodities started to put themselves in order from the start of the fourth quarter. Most commodity ETFs were in the green in early October on unexpected strength from a weaker dollar, rebounding oil prices and stabilization in the key commodity-consuming nation, China, that brightened the lure for commodities. The dollar strength, supply glut, relentless economic turmoil in China and faltering global growth have been nagging botherations for commodities this year. Notably, a rising U.S. currency makes dollar-denominated assets more expensive to foreign investors, thereby dulling the appeal for commodities. As a result, the broader commodity market, as represented by the S&P GSCI Total Return, is down 17.6% so far this year (as of October 12, 2015) and has tagged itself the worst-performing asset class this year. Soft Job Data = Weak Dollar However, with a downbeat U.S. jobs report, global growth concerns and a subdued inflationary outlook on the backdrop, all talks about the Fed lift-off cooled off instantly. The tentative timeline of the Fed rate hike has been pushed to early next year, and the greenback fell from its prior height for a valid reason. This ushered gains for the broader commodity market. To add to this, commodities behemoth Glencore Plc’s ( OTCPK:GLCNF ) announcement that it will close its supply of many actively traded commodities – from zinc to copper – also boosted trading in the space. Commodities approached the biggest weekly gain in three years in the week ended October 9. Commodities Yet to Hit a Bottom? Several analysts were of the opinion that the worst may be over for commodities. Having slid for over four years, commodities are now offering a cheap valuation. The S&P GSCI Total Return index was down 38.3% in the last one-year frame, 19.3% down in the three-year frame and 9.9% down in the five-year frame (as of October 12, 2015). As per Market Realist, if we go by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, the asset class is off around 50% from high it hit in 2011. Still, investors should note that the recent bounce in the space appears short-term in nature. The relative strength index of the iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust ETF (NYSEARCA: GSG ) currently stands at 51.06, indicating that the product is yet to enter oversold territory. Fundamentally, the global economy is yet to stand on its own feet, indicating a still-weak demand profile for commodities. China: A Pain in the Neck Just as the commodities took off, the Chinese economy started hitting downbeat data points all over again. The country’s trade numbers for September might have come in slightly better than expected; yet they showed that growth momentum is on the line. Plus, the economy’s September inflation turned out softer than expected. Moreover, the greenback might have taken a pause, but would get back its lost strength once the liftoff talks return with full force. Further, most commodities like gold and silver act as hedges against inflation, which is presently subdued globally and posing as a headwind for commodities. Thus, it would be foolish to say that bad patch is over the commodities space, as ominous clouds are still hanging above. Still, investors having a strong stomach for risks might try bottom-fishing and riding out near-term tailwinds. After all, there are some metal and related ETFs which offer great protection against market volatility and come out as safe havens. These metals could be good picks if the market remains edgy for some more time. For them, we highlight three commodity ETFs below that could act as better plays in the current market. SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSEARCA: GLD ) Gold is often viewed as a safe-haven asset to protect against financial risks, and has performed well lately (despite deteriorating fundamentals) on heightened market volatility. GLD tracks the price of gold bullion measured in U.S. dollars. The fund is the most popular and liquid bet in its space, with an asset base of $25.7 billion and an average trading volume of over six million shares a day. It charges 40 basis points as fees. This gold bullion fund was up about 5.3% in the last one month. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold). iShares Silver Trust ETF (NYSEARCA: SLV ) Silver has an edge over the gold, as the white metal is used in a number of key industrial applications. This metal is also viewed as an alternative investment to risky assets during economic uncertainty. The fund tracks the price of silver bullion measured in U.S. dollars. This ultra-popular silver ETF is worth over $5 billion and has heavy volume of nearly 5.8 million shares a day. It charges 50 bps in fees per year from investors. SLV was up over 9.9% in the last one month. The fund has a Zacks ETF Rank #3. First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy ETF (NASDAQ: FTGC ) This $204.4 million fund is an actively managed broader commodity ETF. It charges 95 bps in fees and has high exposure in silver, wheat, cattle feeder, lean hogs, cocoa, coffee and sugar. Notably, most of these commodities are presently witnessing an uptrend in prices, making the product an intriguing play even in a rough commodity trading environment. The fund added over 3% in the last one month. Original Post