Remember the day when an exchange-traded fund was as easy to grasp as the sunshine is bright? No longer! On Monday, 11/16/09, iShares launched the Diversified Alternatives Trust (ALT). Its stated objective? Well… that’s too long for a gifted speaker to say aloud on a single breath of air. (Go ahead… try it for yourself!) “The objective of the Trust is to maximize absolute [...] Continue Reading...
Gold, gold, gold. You’d think that there wasn’t another precious metal on the block. Yet the YTD performance for the Silver ETF (SLV) has nearly doubled that of the Gold ETF (GLD). Of course, some believe that the justification for gold’s climb is lacking. If that’s the case, what’s the outlook for silver? Here are three fantastic ETF articles to [...] Continue Reading...
One thing… and one thing only… has kept me optimistic on stock ETFs. Bernanke has no intention of raising rates anytime soon. The ramifications for equity investors are clear-cut. With negligible interest rates in the States, worldwide investors have little fear that the U.S. dollar is going to strengthen. It follows that borrowing the U.S. dollar for “nada” and [...] Continue Reading...
Many still believe that U.S. economy will not be able to grow and that U.S. markets may be plagued by ever-increasing volatility. It follows that one might need to look overseas to invest. Do Middle East ETFs have genuine potential? Should you consider them for a portion of your emerging market holdings? We’re also going to check in on YTD U.S. [...] Continue Reading...
Bond ETFs, Chile ETFs, Copper ETN, Currency ETFs Click here to listen to the show: 11-15-09 Continue Reading...
Not a lot of folks are talking about it… but financial ETFs are struggling. While the “dollar carry trade” has encouraged investors to push big time benchmarks to 52-week highs, the SPDR Select Financial Fund (XLF) is still -6.8% below its closing high from 1 month ago. Consider the Dow Diamonds Trust (DIA), the S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY) and [...] Continue Reading...
According to Bespoke, the S&P Midcap 400 Index has returned close to 30% YTD. That’s far outpacing both the S&P 500 and the small-cap S&P 600. Get the low-down on index ETFs. What’s more, find out why so many folks are going gaga for the Platinum ETN. Platinum ETNs Continue To Shine - Benzinga ETF Investors Fret Over Inflation, Weak Greenback - [...] Continue Reading...
There have been plenty of bullish voices pining for Healthcare ETFs in 2009. For instance, as recently as June, Morningstar exclaimed that the Vanguard Health Care Fund (VHT) was undervalued by 44%. Still others have argued in an anecdotal fashion. For example, any health bill that increases insurance coverage could mean more patients at doctor offices and more prescriptions at pharmacies. Of [...] Continue Reading...
12 months after winning the election, President Obama may still be trying to address a “W.” This time, however, it’s not about taking on a former president’s policies. Rather, some economists believe Obama will be challenged by a ”W-shaped” recovery. Today, we’re featuring several articles that address the possibility of a quick return to a recession and what that may mean [...] Continue Reading...
Kyle Waller believes that global investment returns can be explained by investigating economic segments. And he presented some pretty sharp data to back up his convictions in an editorial at Index Universe. Here’s a quick summation of the facts: The iShares ETFs have 10 global sector funds. In the 5-year period from 10/31/04-9/30/09, all 10 of the global sector [...] Continue Reading...
