The “wealth effect” on the part of a growing middle class in places like India and China has been a major factor in the increased demand for commodities. Similarly, in 2010, those who invested in corn, wheat an sugar are probably beaming over the price appreciation in their commodity positions. As the purchasing power of citizens in emerging market nations expands, will [...] Continue Reading...
Bond ETFs, Shorting ETFs, Commodity ETFs, Risky ETFs Click here to listen to the show: 11-7-10 Continue Reading...
Prior to this mid-term election week, Financial ETFs had made virtually no progress across an entire year. And who could blame investors for avoiding institutions that required government bailouts to survive. Yet the reasons for avoiding banks, insurers, brokerage houses and lenders extended far beyond a lack of trust. Banks still have “jillions” in toxic assets on their books. What’s more, recent bank profitability came [...] Continue Reading...
For the last 3 months, Asian ETFs kept hitting 2-year highs… over and over and over again. Even the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Fund (FXI) began charting new peaks in early October. Manufacturing growth in China has been one driving force in the success of Asian ETFs. Greater demand for services by a burgeoning professional class in China has also contributed. Yet, we’re just [...] Continue Reading...
“The rich get richer,” you hear from those who demonize the creation of wealth. Nevermind the fact that the freedom to keep the fruits of your labor… the rewards of your work product… is one of the biggest reasons that so many people around the world have wanted to live in the United States. In decades of conversations with investors — from the [...] Continue Reading...
While broad market ETFs like the S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY) have recovered April 2010 highs, investors of Sector SPDR ETFs have different experiences. For instance, Bespoke points out that SPDR Financials Select (XLF) is down 11% from its April pinnacle. In complete contrast, telecom is up nearly 16%! See how your Sector ETFs stack up: Sector Performance Since Prior Bull Market High - [...] Continue Reading...
There were rumblings in July and August that the Federal Reserve would try to jump start the U.S. economy. By September, the notion that the Fed would embark on a second round of “quantitative easing” became a foregone conclusion. By October, the main questions were, “How much treasury debt will you buy?” and” ”How long’s it gonna take?” Some wondered whether [...] Continue Reading...
Upon mid-term “election reflection,” President Obama conceded that he may not have done enough for the economy. At the same time, the president believes strongly in his health care legislation, in spite of polling evidence suggesting that the legislation itself affected voter decision-making. With Republicans looking to repeal or severely modify the current law, where do Health Care ETFs stand? [...] Continue Reading...
Genuine economic growth throughout the developing world has helped investors achieve phenomenal returns in Emerging Market Stock ETFs. What’s more, if you live in the U.S. or Europe, the gains have appeared even more remarkable. Consider the developed world’s reserve currency. U.S. investors may be seeing lots more dollars in their portfolios, but those dollars are worth decidedly less than a basket of [...] Continue Reading...
Minimizing taxes is an important goal when making investment decisions. If you have gains in 2010, you may be looking to do some tax loss harvesting before December 31st. But what if you like the position that you’re holding… and what if “wash sale” rules prevent you from repurchasing the ETF for 31 days? The MarketWatch feature below outlines the ETF [...] Continue Reading...
