Zacks Investment ResearchT3·37mo ago
LDSF First Trust Low Duration Strategic Focus ETF
ETFETF quote, holdings, sector allocation, technicals, and options analytics. Fibonacci levels
Market data may be delayed, incomplete, or inaccurate. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Verify quotes with your broker before trading. See Terms §17.
LDSF
—
—
Key stats
About
First Trust Low Duration Strategic Focus ETF (LDSF) ETF
No description available.
- Exchange
- XNAS
- Inception
- 2019-01-03
- Has Options
- No
Fund profile
holdings as of May 31, 2026SEC filingthrough May 2026flows, SEC filings
- Expense ratio
- 0.87% prospectus, filed Dec 29, 2025
- Assets
- $162M shares × price, Oct 9, 2026
- Trailing yield
- 4.78% paid monthly
- Average daily volume
- $627K 30 sessions
- Holdings
- 8 top 10 are 99.7%
- Listed
- Jan 3, 2019 Nasdaq
- Last fee change
- +5 bp filed Dec 29, 2025
Cost7
Liquidity27
Scale45
Diversification0
Moves with. Long Treasuries (25% of its variance, beta 0.12); US large-cap stocks (14% of its variance, beta 0.06); US dollar (5% of its variance, beta -0.05). These factors explain 50% of its daily moves over the last year.
Stated objective. "The First Trust Low Duration Strategic Focus ETF (the ""Fund"" ) seeks to generate current income, with a secondary objective of preservation of capital." (from the fund's prospectus)
All 8 holdingsFlow historySimilar fundsOverlap toolAll Short-Term Bond ETFs
Fund flows
through May 2026SEC filings- May 2026
- +$1.9M latest reported month
- Latest 3 months
- +$4.7M +2.9% of assets
- Latest 12 months
- +$38M +23.6% of assets
View as a table
| Month | Net flow |
|---|---|
| May 2026 | +$1.9M |
| Apr 2026 | −$1.9M |
| Mar 2026 | +$4.7M |
| Feb 2026 | +$5.8M |
| Jan 2026 | +$7.7M |
| Dec 2025 | +$5.7M |
| Nov 2025 | +$3.8M |
| Oct 2025 | +$2.9M |
| Sep 2025 | +$3.8M |
| Aug 2025 | +$950K |
| Jul 2025 | −$3.8M |
| Jun 2025 | +$6.6M |
Net creations and redemptions from the fund's SEC filings, which become public about 60 days after each quarter. Every month since 81 months ago
Similar funds
| Fund | Overlap | Fee | Assets | 1Y | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HISFFirst Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF | 33% | 0.83% | $96M | −6.0% | compare |
| MDIVFirst Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VI Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund | 12% | 0.71% | $408M | −0.4% | compare |
| LALTFirst Trust Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF | 10% | 1.18% | $394M | +8.7% | compare |
| FTBIFirst Trust Balanced Income ETF | 8% | 0.97% | $21M | −0.7% | compare |
| BLUIBluemonte Diversified Income ETF | 7% | 0.75% | $102M | −2.1% | compare |
Ranked by how much of the two portfolios is the same securities.
What changed in the portfolio
Feb 28, 2026 → May 31, 2026| Action | Holding | Weight before | Weight after | Shares vs flows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increase | FTSLFirst Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 2.42% | 6.48% | +165.1% |
| Decrease | HYLSFirst Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 15.65% | 12.03% | −22.9% |
0 new, 0 exited, 1 increased and 1 decreased between the fund's two latest holdings reports; turnover 4.1%. Full holdings and history
Under the hood
fiscal year to Aug 31, 2025SEC census- Authorized participants
- 4 active of 22 with agreements; top 3 did 90%
- Created · redeemed
- $38M · $63M over the fiscal year
- Redemptions in kind
- 100% creations 100% in kind
- Creation unit
- 50,000 shares
- Securities lending
- authorized, none lent
From the fund's annual census filing with the SEC. In-kind redemptions are what let an ETF shed appreciated securities without realising gains.
ETF Profile
holdings as of 2026-08-31
Holdings
8
AUM
$159.1M
Provider
Nport
Inception
2019-01-03
Exchange
XNAS
Data As Of
2026-08-31
Expense Ratio
0.87%
Dividend Yield
4.78%
Distribution
Monthly
Recent distributions
| Ex-Date | Pay Date | Amount | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-30 | $0.0750 | CD |
| 2026-08-21 | 2026-08-31 | $0.0750 | CD |
| 2026-07-21 | 2026-07-31 | $0.0740 | CD |
| 2026-06-25 | 2026-06-30 | $0.0740 | CD |
| 2026-05-21 | 2026-05-29 | $0.0740 | CD |
| 2026-04-21 | 2026-04-30 | $0.0740 | CD |
Asset Allocation
Top Holdings
top 8 of 8 holdings
| Symbol | Name | Weight % | Asset Class | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMBS | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 38.20% | Equity (common) | US |
| FSIG | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 34.86% | Equity (common) | US |
| HYLS | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 15.65% | Equity (common) | US |
| FEMB | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III | 3.09% | Equity (common) | US |
| FTSM | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 2.99% | Equity (common) | US |
| FPEI | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III | 2.50% | Equity (common) | US |
| FTSL | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 2.42% | Equity (common) | US |
| — | Morgan Stanley Institutional Liquidity Funds | 0.28% | Short-term investment | US |
Chart
Seasonality
| Month | '21 | '22 | '23 | '24 | '25 | '26 | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -0.29% | -0.60% | 1.44% | 0.27% | 0.21% | 0.07% | 0.18% |
| Feb | -0.83% | -0.75% | -1.49% | -0.95% | 0.77% | 0.05% | -0.53% |
| Mar | -0.69% | -1.40% | 0.87% | 0.02% | -0.32% | -1.12% | -0.44% |
| Apr | -0.10% | -1.34% | -0.11% | -0.96% | 0.03% | 0.21% | -0.38% |
| May | 0.05% | -0.44% | -0.38% | 0.54% | 0.00% | -0.04% | -0.04% |
| Jun | -0.15% | -2.20% | -0.86% | 0.05% | 0.69% | -0.18% | -0.44% |
| Jul | -0.18% | 1.33% | 0.05% | 1.29% | -0.29% | -0.40% | 0.30% |
| Aug | -0.10% | -1.21% | 0.05% | 0.54% | 0.45% | -0.08% | -0.06% |
| Sep | -0.44% | -2.34% | -0.97% | 0.58% | 0.31% | -1.92% | -0.80% |
| Oct | -0.45% | -0.71% | -0.55% | -1.74% | -0.12% | 0.41%* | -0.53% |
| Nov | -0.57% | 1.09% | 1.86% | 0.56% | 0.24% | -- | 0.64% |
| Dec | 0.30% | -0.75% | 1.21% | -0.90% | 0.10% | -- | -0.01% |
| Total | -3.40% | -8.99% | 1.07% | -0.74% | 2.08% | -2.98% | -2.16% |
Technical Indicators
Quick-reference for reading the values below. Indicators combine to confirm a view — no single one is a trade signal on its own.
Trend Indicators
- SMA 20 / 50 / 200 — price above = uptrend, below = downtrend. SMA 50 crossing SMA 200 is the golden/death cross.
- EMA 12 / 26 — faster-reacting averages; 12 above 26 is short-term bullish.
- MACD — bullish when MACD > signal (green badge), bearish when below. Divergence from price often precedes reversals.
- ADX (14) — trend strength regardless of direction. <20 range, 20–25 weak trend, 25–50 trend, >50 strong trend.
- +DI / −DI — +DI > −DI favors bulls; the reverse favors bears. Read alongside ADX.
Momentum Oscillators
- RSI (14) — <30 oversold, >70 overbought. 40–60 is neutral; trending names can stay extreme.
- Stochastic %K / %D — <20 oversold, >80 overbought. %K crossing %D is an early momentum signal.
- Williams %R — inverted scale: <−80 oversold, >−20 overbought.
Oscillators work best in range-bound markets; in strong trends they give premature reversal signals.
Volume & Volatility
- Bollinger Bands — price at upper band = overbought, lower = oversold. Narrow bands (squeeze) often precede expansion.
- OBV — cumulative volume; rising OBV confirms uptrend, falling OBV confirms downtrend. Divergence from price is a warning.
- Vol SMA 20 / Vol ROC — today's volume vs. 20-day average. Positive ROC with price move = conviction.
- ATR / True Range — average daily $ move; sizing and stop-loss reference.
- HV 20 / 30 / 60 — realized (historical) volatility. Compare to IV on the options cards: IV > HV = rich premium.
Confluence matters: trend + momentum + volume agreeing carries far more weight than any single indicator. For how these feed the spread scanner score, see the algorithm docs →
Trend Indicators
SMA 20: $18.53
SMA 50: $18.72
SMA 200: $18.94
Current: $18.50
EMA 12: $18.48
EMA 26: $18.57
MACD: -0.0829 | Signal: 0.0069
BEARISH
ADX (14): 24.79
WEAK TREND
+DI: 17.16
−DI: 18.65
Momentum Oscillators
RSI (14): 38.11
NEUTRAL
Stoch %K: 23.61
Stoch %D: 19.44
Williams %R: -68.06
Volume & Volatility
BB Upper: $18.75
BB Lower: $18.31
NEUTRAL
OBV: 2,308,799
Vol SMA 20: 39,655
Vol ROC: -56.38%
ATR: $0.08
True Range: $0.07
HV 20: 3.4%
HV 30: 3.1%
HV 60: 2.8%
Data Summary
Data Points: 500
Last Updated:
Date Range: 2024-10-11T00:00:00 – 2026-10-09T00:00:00
AI Analysis
LLM Stock Analysis Report
Executive Summary
Overall Assessment: NEUTRAL (6/10)
Key Drivers:
- Technical indicators suggest a neutral trend, with price hovering around the 50-day SMA.
- Momentum oscillators are neutral to slightly bullish.
Primary Risks:
- Lack of recent news or catalysts may lead to consolidation or sideways trading.
- Low volatility and correlation with SPY may indicate limited upside potential.
Investment Thesis: LDSF appears to be in a consolidative phase, with price bouncing off the lower Bollinger Band. A breakout above the upper band could signal a renewed uptrend, while a breakdown below the lower band would indicate further consolidation or potentially even a bearish move. The low volatility and correlation with SPY suggest a cautious approach.
Recent News Sentiment Impact: No recent news available, which may contribute to the stock's neutral sentiment.
Technical Analysis
Trend Direction:
- Short-term (1-4 weeks): Neutral
- Medium-term (1-3 months): Slightly bullish
- Long-term (3-12 months): Neutral
Support/Resistance Levels: The 50-day SMA ($19.11) and the upper Bollinger Band ($19.24) serve as key resistance levels, while the lower Bollinger Band ($19.07) provides support.
Momentum Signals:
- RSI (14): Neutral at 47.17
- MACD: Bullish signal line crossover above zero
Bollinger Bands: The stock is trading within a neutral range, with price bouncing off the lower band and approaching the middle band.
Volume Analysis: Volume has been relatively low, indicating limited participation and potential consolidation.
News & Sentiment Analysis
Recent Headlines Summary: No recent news available.
Sentiment Assessment: Neutral
Catalyst Identification: None currently available.
Market Narrative: The absence of significant news or catalysts may be contributing to the stock's neutral sentiment.
Risk & Volatility Assessment
Beta Interpretation: Low risk (beta 0.05)
Volatility Regime: Low volatility compared to historical levels.
Options Market Signals: No options data available.
Downside Protection: Support levels include the lower Bollinger Band ($19.07) and the 50-day SMA ($19.11).
Market Context & Positioning
Sector Performance: Neutral relative to sector/SPY.
Institutional Activity: Limited institutional interest, as reflected in low volume and trading range.
Correlation Analysis: The stock has a low correlation (0.33) with SPY, indicating limited market influence.
Relative Valuation: The stock is trading within its historical range, suggesting no significant valuations shifts.
Key Levels & Action Items
Critical Price Levels:
- Support: $19.07 (lower Bollinger Band), $18.92 (SMA 200)
- Resistance: $19.24 (upper Bollinger Band), $19.15 (50-day SMA)
Breakout/Breakdown Levels: None currently available.
Time-Sensitive Catalysts: Earnings dates not available; no near-term catalysts identified.
Risk Management: Monitor volume and volatility; consider stop-loss levels around the 50-day SMA ($19.11).
Generated
News
All LDSF news →
Zacks Investment ResearchT3·38mo ago
Zacks Investment ResearchT3·38mo ago
Zacks Investment ResearchT3·43mo ago
Zacks Investment ResearchT3·50mo ago
Zacks Investment ResearchT3·53mo ago
Zacks Investment ResearchT3·53mo ago
LDSF Options Activity & IV Rank
Loading options activity...
Spread Scanner GPU
Each spread is ranked by a composite score built in three stages. Full documentation →
Stage 1 — Base Score (GPU scanner)
score = P(profit) × (credit / spread_width)
P(profit) from short leg delta (1 − |delta|), penalised above 85%. Credit uses mid-price to handle illiquid chains fairly.
Stage 2 — Skew Adjustment (±25% cap)
RR and BF (30-delta) from the persisted per-symbol skew snapshot — wing strikes picked by real greeks.delta, not a moneyness proxy. Put skew boosts bull puts, penalises bear calls. High butterfly boosts iron condors. Calendars are skew-neutral.
Stage 3 — Technical Overlay (±50% cap, 5 groups)
Group 1 · Directional Bias (±0.25)
- RSI <40 bullish / >60 bearish
- MACD crossover + histogram trend
- Price vs SMA 50 & SMA 200
Group 2 · Momentum (±0.10)
- Stochastic %K <20 / >80
- Williams %R <−80 / >−20
Group 3 · Volatility (up to −0.25 / +0.15)
- Blended ATR + straddle expected-move penalty
- Bollinger Band signal (+ counter-trend penalty)
- BB width — vol contraction boost for ICs
Group 4 · IV Regime (±0.15)
- IV rank ≥ 75 → strong boost for credit spreads
- IV rank < 25 → penalty (selling cheap vol)
Group 5 · Liquidity (penalty up to −0.10)
- Min open interest across all legs
- OI < 100 → −0.10 · OI < 500 → −0.05
score = base_score × skew_multiplier × tech_multiplier
Both multipliers are shown per spread. Beta is informational only — ATR already captures realized vol. Full algorithm documentation →
Enter a ticker to scan for optimal spread opportunities.
Evaluates all bull put, bear call, iron condor, and calendar spread combinations using GPU-accelerated analysis.
Skew (Wing IV − ATM IV)
DTE:
Wing Δ:
Wing vs ATM
IV(put wing) − IV(ATM), in vol pointsHow much the OTM put trades above (or below) the at-the-money strike. Measures the height of the put-side tail relative to ATM — i.e. how expensive crash insurance is on this name.
- Positive (typical) — wing IV > ATM IV. Standard equity put skew: portfolios bid up crash protection, so OTM puts trade richer than ATM.
- Near zero or negative (unusual) — wing IV ≤ ATM IV. Flat or inverted put side. Common when there's no fear demand, in tightly mean-reverting names, or right after an earnings catalyst clears.
- Percentile vs own 3-yr history: high = wings rich (good time to sell wing premium); low = wings cheap (good time to buy protection).
- Not directional — high or low wings don't predict up or down moves. It's a price tag on tail insurance, not a forecast.
Risk Reversal
IV(call wing) − IV(put wing), equal delta on each sideWhich side of the smile is the market paying up for? Measures the tilt of the surface — call skew vs put skew at matched deltas.
- Negative (typical) — puts richer than calls. Standard equity behavior: hedging demand makes puts carry a premium. Most large-caps sit in the −1 to −5 vol-point range.
- Strongly negative (< −5 pts) — heavy downside hedging, elevated fear, or an upcoming catalyst (earnings, FDA, macro event). Worth flagging.
- Positive — calls richer than puts. Unusual for equities; signals bullish momentum, short-squeeze positioning, or takeover/M&A speculation.
- Near zero — symmetric surface. Market sees roughly equal up/down risk. Rare for large-caps; more common in commodities and FX.
Reading them together
Wing-vs-ATM tells you how expensive the tails are. Risk Reversal tells you which side is favored. Combined:
- High wing percentile + deeply negative RR → strong put bid; stress or major event priced in. Owning protection costs a premium; selling put premium is dangerous.
- Low wing percentile + near-zero RR → complacency; insurance cheap and balanced. Good environment to add cheap downside hedges.
- Positive RR + elevated wings → call-side fear-of-missing-out; common in squeeze setups. Upside calls expensive, downside puts not bid.
14 DTE / 10d
—
—
pts
EXTREME
ATM — / Wing —
30 DTE / 10d
—
—
pts
EXTREME
ATM — / Wing —
Extreme reading.
Historically these have been contrarian — on the small set of observed earnings-day cases, large negative wing-vs-ATM gaps (calls pricing much richer than puts at the same delta) preceded sharp drops in the underlying within 1-12 days. Not financial advice and the dataset is small.
Percentile is the rank of today's reading within ~3 years of this symbol's own history. High percentile = wings are rich relative to history; not a directional signal. Skew is read off the chain in real time, not from CBOE SKEW.
Volatility Surface
Enter a ticker to render the implied volatility surface.
Volatility Smile
Enter a ticker to render the implied volatility smile.
IV Rank (7 DTE)
IV Rank (30 DTE)
Straddle Price (30 DTE)
Beta Analysis
Risk Metrics
Beta: 0.0975
Alpha: -4.79%
Correlation: 0.4826
R-Squared: 23.3%
Stock Volatility: 2.6%
Market Volatility: 13.0%
Analysis Details
Benchmark: SPY
Data Points: 251
Period: 252 trading days
Data Points: 251
Period: 252 trading days
Interpretation:
Low volatility - stock moves less than market
Low volatility - stock moves less than market
Beta & Alpha Over Time
LDSF Institutional Ownership (13F)
Latest filings — 2026-09-30Institutional managers with $100M+ AUM file Form 13F-HR quarterly, due 45 days after quarter end. Holdings are reported gross at quarter-end market value — they are a snapshot, not a real-time position.
- Shares — long equity positions in this name, aggregated across share classes.
- Calls / Puts — notional value of long call / put exposure where this ticker is the underlying.
- % of Float — holder's reported shares divided by the latest diluted shares outstanding. Sums above 100% indicate large custodian / prime broker positions where the same shares are reported by multiple filers.
- Custodian badge — filers with more than 5,000 holdings are typically broker-dealers / custodians reporting customer-held shares, not active managers.
Each filer is counted once at its latest 13F-HR filing. New filings are ingested on a weekly cadence.
| # | Filer | Notional Value | % of Total | Period |
|---|
| # | Filer | Notional Value | % of Total | Period |
|---|
LDSF Constituent Performance
Click any bar to view the full quote for that stock.
LDSF Constituents (7 of 7)
| Symbol | Name | Weight % | Price | 1 Day | 1 Week | 1 Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMBS | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 38.20% | $48.68 | +0.06% | +0.39% | -0.98% |
| FSIG | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 34.86% | $18.47 | +0.00% | +0.38% | -0.75% |
| HYLS | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 15.65% | $39.5 | +0.10% | +0.36% | -1.77% |
| FEMB | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III | 3.09% | $28.85 | +0.38% | +1.84% | -2.53% |
| FTSM | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 2.99% | $59.62 | +0.02% | +0.13% | -0.12% |
| FPEI | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III | 2.50% | $18.54 | +0.05% | +0.60% | -1.59% |
| FTSL | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | 2.42% | $44.64 | +0.02% | +0.16% | -0.69% |