Gold miners, biotech among worst-performing ETFs d

Gold miners , biotech among worst-performing ETFs during shutdown
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF GDXJ is so far the biggest loser among ETFs during the U.S. government shutdown.

Its 14.2% loss since Oct. 1 makes it the worst-performing U.S. ETF, excluding leveraged products. That’s according to Morningstar data as of Monday’s close.

Related ETFs — the Global X Gold Explorers ETF GLDX and the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX 0.13% — are not too far behind GDXJ with month-to-date drops of 10.3% and 8%. The SPDR Gold Trust GLD has also been lagging with a 3.1% slide over the same period — making it among the 100 worst-performing U.S. ETFs, according to the Morningstar data.

You might think gold-related plays would have fared better during the shutdown given their safe-haven reputation. But one headwind has been several big banks cutting their forecasts for gold prices. Still, analysts have described gold as “broken” for its failure to respond to what should be good news for that commodity.

Biotech ETFs also have been big losers so far during the shutdown, with several among the 100 worst-performing ETFs. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF XBI has lost 7.2%, the Market Vectors Biotech ETF BBH is down 5.2% and the iShares Nasdaq Biotech ETF IBB has slipped 3.4%.

MarketWatch columnist Kevin Marder has suggested this is a sign of speculative sentiment receding. Barron’s Brendan Conway reports that a significant percentage of investors view biotech as overvalued after the sector’s strong gains this year.

So with biotech and gold miners, it appears the shutdown is not the main driver of their performance so far in October. Instead, it’s the other factors mentioned. http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/10/...-shutdown/