A little more than a week before one of the year’s biggest shopping days, ProShares launched an ETF designed to capitalize on poor performance of brick and mortar stores.
The ProShares Decline of the Retail Store ETF (EMTY) provides short exposure to companies in a sector that has struggled and shows few signs of turning around. While shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Foot Locker, Inc. both leapt more than 25 percent last week after stronger than expected earnings reported, the future for many companies in the retail sector feels grim.
ProShares points to declining sales and bankruptcies by more than 30 major retailers in the last three years, including Toys “R” Us, RadioShack and Payless.
The apparel segment accounts for more than 28 percent of the index, followed by department stores, at 10.71 percent, and then similar weights across others within the sector. J.C. Penny Co. Inc., Sears Holdings Corp., Barnes & Noble Inc. and others that have made headlines in recent years for poor performance are also in the index. The 56 companies are equally weighted.