One of the latest inventions of the financial
industry is exchange traded funds. ETF's are designed to track an
underlying asset, futures market, index or basket of stocks. Oil ETF's
are designed to track the futures price of crude oil. Traditionally,
investors that want to gain exposure to crude oil prices have either
invested in oil shares or taken a position in derivatives such as
futures or options. Oil exchange traded funds represent a new opportunity
to invest in oil without taking on the risk associated with outright
futures or options positions. The following investigates the range
of crude oil ETF's that are currently available.
Claymores Macroshare Oil Up Tradeable Shares (UCR):
This fund seeks to replicate the movement of crude oil(West Texas
Intermediate) with the potential for income produced from short
term U.S Treasuries or purchase agreements. This fund is tailored
for investors that have a bullish stance on oil and want to take
a long position.
Claymores Macroshares Oil Downtradeable Shares (DCR):
The fund seeks to replicate the inverse price movements associates
with West Texas Intermediate crude oil with potential to obtain
income from short term U.S Treasuries or repurchase agreements.
This Oil ETF is for traders and investors who have a bearish stance
on oil and want to benefit from the falling price of oil. They can
also use this vehicle as a hedge.
The United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) is a pure play on oil that
seeks to reflect the performance of the spot price of West Texas
Intermediate light, sweet crude by taking investment positions in
a combination of futures contracts and other oil interests.
You can also gain exposure to the oil services sector by investing
in exchange traded funds that comprise companies that provide services
to the oil industry. The Oil Holders Service Trust (OIH) invest
in corporations that provide well and site management, drilling
and ancillary products and services for the oil service industry.
The constitute stocks are the largest and most liquid US companies
traded in the oil services industry.
Sel Sector:Energy SPDR (XLE)
This Oil ETF provides an investment vehicle for traders and investors
to gain exposure to a portfolio of securities as represented by
the Energy Select Sector Index.
Top 10 Holdings include the following:
Exxon Mobil Corp: 21.29%
Chevron Corp: 13.09%
ConocoPhillips: 9.59%
Schlumberger Ltd: 5.52%
Occidental Petroleum Corp: 3.75%
Marathon Oil Corp: 3.19%
Valero Energy Corp: 3.02%
Devon Energy Corp: 2.79%
Halliburton Co: 2.73%
Transocean Inc: 2.70%
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