With one quarter under our belts, the pack in the Best ETFs for 2018 contest has started to space out, but we’re still early in the year. The leaders cannot rest on their laurels and there’s still plenty of time for the lagging exchange-traded funds to catch up. But all of that is neither here nor there — today we are just looking at the first quarter, and it has been a fascinating one.

While the leader in the contest has been leading the way virtually the entire quarter, other positions have been shuffling back and forth on an almost daily basis. It truly is anyone’s game. So, without further ado, here are the picks, in order from last to first as of March 30. Who are you pulling for,

The Market Vectors Rare Earth ETF (NYSEARCA:REMX) just haven’t had a good year so far. Lithium stocks are taking it on the chin after a couple years of outperformance. Unexpected pricing pressure looks to be the culprit for a lot of it, along with worries that supply could start to increase.

Since a tight supply has been part of the reason these stocks have done so well, threats to that naturally have investors on edge. Still, it’s early yet, and the demand for lithium, in particular, is only going to grow. Additionally, the continued lethargy of oil prices is keeping a lid on demand for electric cars to a certain extent, keeping REMX more boxed up in the short term.

Read more about REMX from John Jagerson and Wade Hansen here. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) (NYSEARCA:XLE) has had a rough intro to 2018. One of the problems with being a sector-specific ETF is that if that sector is facing headwinds, so is the ETF. And right now, energy is dealing with continuing uncertainty around oil prices. The good news is that should oil suddenly surge, all the big-name companies in the XLE ETF are going to surge right along with it, so catching up is well within the realm of possibility.

Read more about XLE from Kent Thune here. Global growth trends may be the way to go in 2018, and the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:VSS) is a great way to play that space. True, the first quarter has been rough on VSS, but there are opportunities for growth internationally that U.S.

’t have as clearly. “To be clear, I don’t expect America to crumble and I still expect the S&P 500 index to finish handily in the green this year. All in all, the best ETF for this year could very well draw its strength from outside of the U.S. Read more about VSS from Jeff Reeves here.

The PowerShares Water Resource Portfolio (NASDAQ:PHO) ETF isn’t your flashy, exciting ETF, but that’s not too surprising. It’s based on one of the most basic needs in life — clean, drinkable water. Purifying it, reclaiming it and delivering it. It’s not exciting, and investors treat it as such. In other words, while this ETF isn’t burning bright, its focused more on slow-and-steady growth could keep it in the running all year. Read more about PHO from James Brumley here.

You might be tempted to dismiss video games as the providence of little kids and slack-jawed teens, but video games have become big business — and the ETFMG Video Game Tech ETF (NYSEARCA:GAMR) can help you capitalize on that. You see, it’s not just about selling the games, or the consoles, or the merchandise, or the accessories.



No, you’ll find one of the biggest growth areas for video games is eSports, which are expected to see some big gains in the coming years. And that growth is expected to continue, fueling GAMR to gains this year and maybe the title of Best ETF in this contest. Read more about GAMR from Robert Waldo here.