ETF Expert

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper isn’t too pleased that Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, a vessel that would have shipped crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico. However, on Thursday, Harper described the exporting of Canadian energy as a “national priority” and pledged to fast-track regulatory approval. In contrast, U.S. natural gas producers are still hoping to get the “thumbs up”on natural gas [...] Continue Reading...

It wasn’t that long ago that gold bears were sticking a fork in the yellow metal. And they had several reasons. The $300+ per ounce price drop was not attracting tons of bargain-hunters. What’s more, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) had fallen below its 200-day trendline for the first time since 2009. That said, precious metals have reclaimed their luster [...] Continue Reading...

In 2011, U.S. financial stocks collectively posted the worst performance of the 10 major economic segments. Not only did the SPDR Select Sector Financial Fund (XLF) decline 17%, but the P/E ratio for the sector contracted 22%. In 2012, the skies have been a little brighter for banks, insurers and property developers. The S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY) has [...] Continue Reading...

Morningstar used to be a one-trick pony. The company rated mutual funds… and they weren’t particularly good at it. For instance, in 1999, nearly every investment in the Janus stable held 4 or 5 stars. The primary reason? Janus products demonstrated superior performance on a relative basis in most stock categories over popular time frames (e.g., 1 year, 3 year, etc.). Did [...] Continue Reading...

Dividend Growth ETFs, Dividend Appreciation ETFs, Biotech ETFs, Hedging With ETFs, ETF Hedging, ETF Strategic Diversification Click here to listen to the show: 1-22-2012 Continue Reading...

With the S&P 500 garnering 4.6% in less than 3 weeks, are money managers becoming skittish? If hundreds of millions flowing out of a few select ETFs is any indication, then the answer is, “Yes.” On 1/19/2012, institutional advisers used their block accounts to  dump roughly $120 million of iShares Russell Top 200 Growth (IWY) and $80 million of [...] Continue Reading...

Rio is suddenly the hot spot once again. Specifically, one of the worst investment disasters in 2011 is currently one of the best performers out of the 2012 gate. The iShares MSCI Brazil Fund (EWZ) registered an abysmal -24.2% last year. Yet EWZ has already gained 13%+ here in January.  In Tal Barak Harif’s commentary below, he interviews [...] Continue Reading...

In 2011, S&P 500 profits expanded 15%. And yet, the benchmark’s price finished in the very same place that it started the year. In essence, since prices flat-lined and earnings experienced double-digit growth, a fundamentally inexpensive stock market via the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) became even cheaper. The most common reason cited for P/E contraction in 2011? The Euro Zone debt crisis. Obviously, sovereign [...] Continue Reading...

In January, some of the “risk on” attitude has favored the sector that many investors love to hate. That’s right… financial stocks are back on a roll. That said, investors may be “smart” to dislike the financial segment. Wells Fargo notwithstanding, most of the banks have put forward terrible Q4 earnings and revenue numbers. The forward guidance [...] Continue Reading...

Italy ETFs, France And ETFs, European Downgrades And ETFs, Relative Strength ETFs, Dividend ETFs  Click here to listen to the show: 1-15-2012 Continue Reading...