There were no changes to the Franklin International Equity Rotation Model this week.

While Technology and growth names have slowed to begin the year, certain pockets of the group continue to exhibit high levels of relative strength. Those looking to add additional exposure to the group could look towards the Franklin Intelligent Machines ETF (IQM). It holds an extremely strong fund score of 4.86, which is 1.66 points greater than the average technology and communications fund. Despite a pullback at the end of last year, IQM has since spun off two consecutive buy signals. IQM continues to demonstrate long-term strength, trading in a positive trend going back to May of last year. The fund also holds long-term relative strength versus the market, sitting on an RS buy signal versus the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (SPXEWI).  With consolidation over the last couple months, the fund is trading in actionable territory around the middle of its 10-week trading band. Initial support for the fund also sits closely at $89, continuing until the mid $70s, with the bullish support line at $75.

This section of the report categorizes select Franklin ETFs by their respective broad group. Along with each group, you can view the Average Group Score, which is an average of the scores of all funds represented in that particular group. Those Franklin ETFs that meet or exceed the Average Group Score will be highlighted in green in order to easily view those ETFs that have superior strength within their respective group. You want to focus on those ETFs that exhibit superior strength when looking to add new exposure to a particular group.

The distribution curve places each ETF on a bell curve according to their respective degrees of overbought or oversold status using a 10-week distribution. ETFs that are statistically oversold will appear on the left-hand side of the bell curve, while those that have become statistically overbought will appear on the right-hand side of the bell curve. Perhaps the most useful attribute of this feature is that it displays the entire universe on the curve at one time to give us a general picture of whether the Franklin ETF universe is generally overbought on a near-term basis, or generally oversold. Our best opportunities are to buy strong relative strength ETFs that have regressed back toward mean conditions based on market weakness, or have become oversold based upon extreme market weakness. Weekly Distribution is a short-term gauge that is most helpful in timing entry and exit points, while the longer-term information of trend and relative strength is a more controlling factor in the decision of whether to buy or sell.

Legend:

• UPPERCASE indicates that the RS chart is on a buy signal.
• lowercase indicates that the RS chart is in a sell signal.
• GREEN lettering indicates the ETFs trend chart is on a buy signal.
• RED lettering indicates the ETF is on a sell signal.
• Box Color indicates the Sector Status Rating. Green = Favored, Yellow = Average, and Red = Unfavored.

The Franklin LibertyShares International Model is designed to identify major country and regional themes in the international marketplace through the use of the Point & Figure relative strength tools. For more information on the portfolio construction and back testing, see the model info file on the models page.  (Note: The Franklin LibertyShares ETF Models will be updated Thursday mornings by 9:30 am EST) 

Weekly Changes: 

* - Dates prior to 09/01/2018, which is when the Franklin LibertyShares ETF Model became available on the NDW Research Platform, are representative of when the position was added to the backtested model.