About a week ago, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) was hitting 7-month highs. And it had seriously threatened to move higher. Six trading sessions later, it has pulled back 1.25%. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) is down 1.25%? What difference could that make! Well… it’s not the size of the move; rather, it is the motion of [...] Continue Reading...
Diamonds? One writer believes you can “play” a commodity that… isn’t. Here’s a look at 3 ETF investing ideas on Tuesday, February 16, 2010: How To Play Diamonds With ETFs - Kevin Grewal, The Street International Bond ETFs: A Little Safety, A Little Risk - Jonathan Bernstein, ETF Zone Daniel Spears: The Index Approach To MLPs - Lara Crigger, Hard Assets Investor Disclosure Statement: ETF Expert is [...] Continue Reading...
It’s closing in on 3 months since the U.S. dollar hit a multi-year bottom. At that time, the media’s focus on gold’s success (and the dollar’s demise) bordered on incessant; the coverage even contributed to a bit of panic buying of the yellow metal and panic selling of the “world’s currency.” Then came sovereign debt concerns in the [...] Continue Reading...
According to Bill Luby, 2008 – 2009 witnessed 14 straight months of year-over-year retail sales declines. However, both November 09 and January 2010 broke the negative streak with sales increases. So, why are so many investors avoiding U.S. markets? Are investors preparing themselves for better bargains down the road? Or is a new rush to Retail ETFs in the works? Chart Of The Week: Retail [...] Continue Reading...
Low Volatility ETFs, Consistent ETFs, Defensive ETFs Click here to listen to the show: 2-14-10 Continue Reading...
In January, ETF fund flows depicted a number of seemingly incongruous events. Investors liked foreign stocks, but hated U.S. stocks. They distanced themselves from the risks of the financial sector, while they embraced the risks of energy and natural resources industries. Meanwhile, foreign currencies became outcasts, yet most forms of U.S. bonds received billions of new assets. Perhaps [...] Continue Reading...
Alternative energy, green energy, clean energy — proteceting the planet can be a political fireball. If you favor natural gas, other folks may argue that it is a non-renewable resource. If you bring up nuclear energy like President Obama has, detractors slam new reactors by invoking ”Chernobyl” and “Three Mile Island.” So far, those who hose a long-term buy-n-hold on Alt Energy [...] Continue Reading...
In recent commentary, I suggested that the price movement of BRIC ETFs determine the price movement of developed market ETFs… not the other way around. Whereas the media have harped on Greece, I have steadfastly maintained that China’s rate hikes, reserve increases and lending restrictions were the true catalyst(s) for stock asset correction. That said, the last 5 days [...] Continue Reading...
Fear, anxiety, panic… investors around the world have experienced the gamut of dreadful emotions over the past few years. Some folks may have stuffed cash under the mattress (or at least considered it). Others may have seettled for the 0.0000001% interest rates in a bank savings account. Of course, the majority of individuals recognize that running away from risk [...] Continue Reading...
One of the more difficult concepts for investors to comprehend is “true diversification.” Specifically, when you’ve truly diversified the investments in your portfolio, then those individual investments do not show strong relationships to one another. For example, a typical investor might believe that he/she is reasonably well-diversified with the following 5 ETFs: (1) S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY)… Large-Cap U.S. [...] Continue Reading...
