Despite the ups and downs in the broader stock market, the biotechnology sector has remained resilient this year, largely thanks to robust merger activity.
"A lot of big pharmaceuticals are running out of drug patents and are replenishing their pipeline by buying up smaller biotech companies," said John Spence, web editor of ETFtrends.com.
For example, shares of Human Genome Sciences (HGSI), which is a major holding in the ETF, have shot up more than 80% this year as pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) pursued the company. After rejecting a bid back in April, Human Genome accepted GSK's offer of $3.6 billion earlier this week.
The deals and speculation over takeover targets have pushed the biotech ETF near all-time highs.
A mixture of accounting moves and rosy assumptions appears to harpooned JPMorgan's huge trading loss.
