This post was originally published on May 21st, 2007. It was imported from a previous version of the site.
As optionable securities, ETFs are providing traders with a dramatically safer means of profiting from sector momentum. Though the AMEX and Philadelphia Exchange have listed index options for a number of years, the liquidity and rate of expansion of these derivatives was relatively varied. Thus, many traders continued to rely on options for individual stocks within a sector as a proxy for the sector as a whole.
With the rapid expansion of ETFs and the competition between issuers and exchanges that has ensued, the number of sector and specialized index options has grown dramatically. The following is a list of the top 30 ETFs on which options can be traded, ranked by volume.
| ETF Name | Symbol |
| SPDR TR UNIT SER 1 | SPY |
| POWERSHARES QQQ TRUST UNIT SER 1 | QQQQ |
| ISHARES TR RUSSELL 2000 | IWM |
| SELECT SECTOR SPDR TR SBI INT-FINL | XLF |
| SELECT SECTOR SPDR TR SBI INT-ENERGY | XLE |
| ISHARES INC MSCI JAPAN | EWJ |
| ISHARES INC MSCI MALAYSIA | EWM |
| SEMICONDUCTOR HLDRS TR DEP RCPT | SMH |
| OIL SVC HOLDRS TR DEPOSTRY RCPT | OIH |
| ISHARES INC MSCI SINGAPORE | EWS |
| ISHARES INC MSCI BRAZIL | EWZ |
| DIAMONDS TR UNIT SER 1 | DIA |
| ISHARES TR FTSE XNHUA IDX | FXI |
| ISHARES TR MSCI EAFE IDX | EFA |
| ISHARES INC MSCI AUSTRALIA | EWA |
| ISHARES TR DJ US REAL EST | IYR |
| POWERSHARES ETF TRUST AERSPC DEF PTF | PPA |
| ISHARES INC MSCI GERMAN | EWG |
| ISHARES INC MSCI HONG KONG | EWH |
| ISHARES TR MSCI EMERG MKT | EEM |
| ISHARES TR RUSL 2000 VALU | IWN |
| SELECT SECTOR SPDR TR SBI INT-UTILS | XLU |
| ISHARES TR RUSL 2000 GROW | IWO |
| STREETTRACKS SER TR SPDR S&P RTL | XRT |
| SELECT SECTOR SPDR TR SBI INT-INDS | XLI |
| MIDCAP SPDR TR UNIT SER 1 | MDY |
| RETAIL HOLDRS TR DEP RCPT | RTH |
| ISHARES INC MSCI TAIWAN | EWT |
| ISHARES TR S&P GSTI SEMIC | IGW |
| VANGUARD INTL EQUITY INDEX FD EMR MKT ETF | VWO |
