Internet ETFs: I Want My G-O-O-G
12 July 2007 at 10:34 am by Gary Gordon
Quick. What’s missing form the following set of companies: Yahoo (YHOO), eBay (EBAY), Amazon (AMZN) and E-Trade (ET).
If you answered, "Google (GOOG)," you can give yourself a pat on the back for your powers of observation.
Google is arguably the most powerful force on the Internet. It is beloved by everyone from Jim Cramer of Mad Money to Bill Miller of Legg Mason Value. (And yes… even at today’s price!)
Yet, you can’t find Google in some of the most well-known exchange-traded funds. The batch from the first sentence are the top holdings in the Merrill Lynch Internet HOLDRs (HHH). If you want the same type of exposure with Google in the mix, you’d need to look to the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index (FDN).
The First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index (FDN) has Google as its top holding with a 10.6% weighting. Not surprisingly, it has had a better 1-year run than the Merrill Lynch Internet HOLDRs (HHH).
Before we get "googly-eyed" over the prospect of the Internet players we may love and use, investors may wish to take a gander at companies that help build the net.
Specifically, the Merrill Lynch Internet Architecture HOLDRS (IAH) has put together a pretty phenomenal run of its own. IBM (IBM), Cisco (CSCO), Apple (AAPL) and EMC (EMC) all factor heavily in the success Internet Architecture (IAH).
