ETF Update: SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) & David Tepper, PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF) (QQQ)’s New Options, Direxion Shares Exchange Traded Fund Trust (NUGT)’s Reverse Share Splits

Direxion Announces Reverse and Forward Share Splits Of 9 ETFs (ETF Daily News)
Direxion Shares Exchange Traded Fund Trust (NYSEARCA:NUGT) a leader in alternative investment solutions, has announced it will execute reverse share splits for seven of its leveraged exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), as well as forward share splits for another two leveraged ETFs. The total market value of the shares outstanding will not be affected as a result of these splits, except with respect to the redemption of fractional shares.

For those of you who doesn’t know the definition of fractional shares, a fractional share is any amount of share that is between 0 and 1. Fractional shares are usually issued through dividend reinvestment plans and reverse stock splits.

David Tepper Buys SPY, QQQ, DIA, Sells AAPL, MSFT, AIG (NASDAQ)
Renowned hedge fund manager David Tepper must be very bullish in the market. He bought last positions in broad market index SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY), QQQ, and DIA. His overall invest in stocks is close to $7 billion, the highest ever. David Tepper buys Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, Axiall Corp, Fluor Corporation, etc. He sells Apple Inc, Microsoft Corporation, American International Group etc. during the 3-months ended 06/30/2013, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Appaloosa Management LP. As of 06/30/2013, Appaloosa Management LP owns 69 stocks with a total value of $6.9 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)QQQ September 13th Options Begin Trading (Forbes)
Investors in PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF) (NASDAQ:QQQ) saw new options begin trading today, for the September 13th expiration. At Stock Options Channel, our YieldBoost formula has looked up and down the QQQ options chain for the new September 13th contracts and identified one put and one call contract of particular interest. The put contract at the $75.00 strike price has a current bid of 98 cents. If an investor was to sell-to-open that put contract, they are committing to purchase the stock at $75.00, but will also collect the premium, putting the cost basis of the shares at $74.02 (before broker commissions). To an investor already interested in purchasing shares of QQQ, that could represent an attractive alternative to paying $75.52/share today.

QQQ to Welcome Back Old Friend Green Mountain (ETF Trends)
The PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF) (NASDAQ:QQQ), the sixth-largest U.S. ETF by assets will welcome back an old friend soon when Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NasdaqGM: GMCR) rejoins the NASDAQ-100, QQQ’s underlying index, later this month. Vermont-based Green Mountain, the maker of K-Cup and Vue single serve packs, will also join the NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index  prior to market open on Thursday, August 22, 2013, according to a statement by NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes. Green Mountain is replacing biotech firm Life Technologies (NasdaqGM: LIFE).

The Boy Who Cried Wolf, And Crashes (Seeking Alpha)
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) fell as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) had its worst week of 2013, while emerging markets continued to show solid outperformance. Regular readers and followers know I have been pounding the table on the emerging market trade as of late, calling it “the next fat pitch.” The spread of most emerging markets (EEM) relative to the S&P 500 is the widest its been since 1998 when an actual event occurred to justify such a spread.