What the ETF Rankings Show

The ETF Rankings page sorts exchange-traded funds by momentum, letting you compare trend strength across the entire tracked universe or within specific categories. The core idea is straightforward: securities with strong, consistent trends in one direction tend to continue in that direction.

Navigating the Page

ETF Sets

Use the tabs at the top to filter by category:

• All - Every tracked ETF in a single view
• Core Holdings - Major broad-market funds (SPY, QQQ, VTI, etc.)
• Sector ETFs - Industry sector funds (XLK, XLF, XLE, etc.)
• Country ETFs - Single-country international funds
• Bond ETFs - Fixed income across durations and types
• Commodity ETFs - Gold, silver, energy, agriculture exposure

Understanding the Table

The ranking table columns that matter most:

Adjusted Slope

This is the primary ranking metric. It measures the strength and direction of the price trend, adjusted for how consistent the trend is. The formula multiplies the raw slope by its R-squared value. A high adjusted slope means the price is moving strongly in one direction AND doing so consistently.

The table shows adjusted slope at three lookback periods:

• 90 days - Short-term momentum
• 125 days - Medium-term (roughly six months)
• 250 days - Long-term (roughly one year)

R-Squared

R-squared measures how well the price follows a straight trend line. It ranges from 0 to 1:

• Values above 0.7 indicate a very consistent trend
• Values around 0.4-0.7 show a moderate trend with some noise
• Values below 0.3 mean the price is not trending cleanly

Volatility

Annualized standard deviation of returns. This tells you how much the ETF moves. Lower volatility ETFs are generally smoother to hold, while higher volatility ETFs have wider price swings.

Reading the Bubble Charts

The page includes three bubble charts, one for each timeframe. Here is how to read them:

• Horizontal axis (X) - R-squared. Further right means more consistent trend.
• Vertical axis (Y) - Adjusted slope. Higher means stronger uptrend, lower means stronger downtrend.
• Bubble size - Fund assets. Larger bubbles are bigger, more liquid funds.
• Color - Performance (green for positive, red for negative).

What to Look For

The upper-right quadrant contains ETFs with strong momentum AND consistent trends. These are the ones with the clearest directional movement. The lower-left quadrant shows ETFs in consistent downtrends.

ETFs scattered in the middle with low R-squared are not trending meaningfully in either direction.

Comparing Across Timeframes

Looking at all three timeframes together provides context:

• Strong across all three - An established, multi-month trend
• Strong short-term, weak long-term - A newer trend that may be emerging
• Weak short-term, strong long-term - A longer trend that may be weakening or pausing

Using Rankings with Other Tools

The rankings page works well as a starting point:

1. Identify ETFs with favorable momentum characteristics from the rankings
2. Click a ticker to open the ETF Focus page for deeper analysis
3. Add promising candidates to a watchlist for ongoing tracking
4. Use the position sizing calculator to determine allocation amounts

The ETF Filter Alternative

If you want to screen with more specific criteria beyond pure momentum ranking, the ETF Filter tool lets you set ranges for volatility, fund size, expense ratio, and momentum. The filter is better for targeted searches, while rankings are better for broad comparison.