Going nuclear: Uranium ETFs

Editor note: Please note that we have expanded the coverage of nuclear ETF and companies in various more recent posts (click here). or here. We also track them live here.

For investors interested in uranium and nuclear companies, here are a couple of ETFs: NLR and U.

NLR

This ETF tracks nuclear companies. Its performance is +21% in 1 year.

Top 3 holdings are Constellation Energy, Cameco, and Uranium On.

Top 10 holdings:

• AREVA CEI.PA 4.35%
• CAMECO CP CCJ 7.96%
• CONSTELLATION ENGY CEG 8.17%
• Electricité de France N/A 8.7%
• Energy Resources of Australia Limited N/A 4.41%
• EXELON CORPORATION EXC 8.23%
• JGC Corp. N/A 4.57%
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. N/A 7.47%
• PALADIN FPO PDN.AX 4.52%
• Uranium One Inc UUU.TO 4.98%

Chart:

U

As for the commodity itself, U is the symbol for Uranium Participation Corporation in Toronto. This is an investment holding company which invests all of its assets in uranium oxide in concentrates and uranium hexafluoride (i.e., uranium)

Uranium is currently priced at $42 per pound, it was $150 in the past. Analysts expect it to go back to $150 in 2 years as there are supply constraints. Cameco's Cigar lake mine is no where near production.

Chart:

Very long term will go into oversupply (2015 or later) as both Cameco's and BHP's mine production ramp up.

Descriptions:

NLR: Market Vectors Nuclear Energy ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate the price and yield performance of the DAXglobal Nuclear Energy Index (DXNE or the Index) by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates DXNE. DXNE, calculated by Deutsche Borse AG, is a modified market capitalization-weighted index consisting of publicly traded companies worldwide that are engaged in the nuclear energy industry. Companies eligible for inclusion in Index should be engaged in various aspects of the nuclear energy business with market cap exceeding $150 million; should have worldwide daily average trading volume of at least $1 million over past six months and in each of the past two months, and should have maintained monthly trading volume of 250,000 shares over past six months. The Index includes seven major sub-sectors, including mining, enrichment, storage, equipment, plant infrastructure, fuel transport and energy generation. Its investment advisor is Van Eck Associates Corporation.

U: Uranium Participation Corporation (Uranium Corp) is an investment holding company. The Company invests all of its assets in uranium oxide in concentrates and uranium hexafluoride (collectively uranium). The objective of the Company is to provide an investment alternative for investors interested in holding uranium. Denison Mines Inc. is the manager of Uranium Corp.