Commodities continue to shine

Article Excerpt

Stock markets, especially in the developed world, continued their rise in May. Commodity-producing nations, including Canada, lead the way. Notably, ETFs holding gold and oil producers were some of the big winners for the month. On the other hand, decliners in the month included a number of high-flying tech, Internet, and biotech ETFs. A large owner of many stocks in these categories, the hugely popular ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) dropped 10.6% in the month, although it is still up 82% over the past year. At the broad market level, the Vanguard Total World Stocks ETF (VT) gained 0.7% for the month. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) also gained 0.7%, but the iShares MSCI Canada Equity ETF (EWC) was the big winner with a 6.3% gain in U.S. dollars (and 4.4% in Canadian dollars). The iShares Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) lagged developed markets with a 0.1% gain, as investors worry that emerging markets may see a slower path to a..