With reasons to believe that the Chinese economy will roar back to life, and with $3 billion exiting gold-related ETFs in the early part of 2011, can other metals shine brighter? IFA Online makes the case that they will. After all, Platinum and Palladium exchange-traded vehicles have witnessed inflows in the early goings. Industrial ETFs Steal The Shine - Paul Burgin, IFA Online Equal Weighted ETFs [...] Continue Reading...
For the past eleven trading days, the S&P 500 sported an average daily trading range of 1.3%. That’s a far cry from the 7% intra-day swings of late ‘08. On the other hand, it’s significantly more volatile than what we had been experiencing before the rebellion in Libya. Indeed, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) has traded above its 50-day trendline since February 22. What’s [...] Continue Reading...
The oil story has been fairly straightforward. Yet Banking ETFs may be a bit more of a surprise to some. After all, earnings growth for some of the bank majors might be capped by shadow inventory in real estate and limited small business lending. On the flip side, this sector is still a long way from its 2007 [...] Continue Reading...
You didn’t really thing that stock assets in the epicenter of world economic growth would underachieve for too much longer… did you? Since the Libya rebellion began roiling markets 10 trading days ago, SPDR S&P China (GXC) has returned 0.2%; the S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY) has lost roughly -2.5%. It’s not that the U.S. market hasn’t held up remarkably [...] Continue Reading...
Bad weather, oil spikes, and emerging market consumer demand deserve some of the blame for soaring food prices. (But let’s not forget the U.S. Fed… whose actions have dramatically reduced the value of the currency used to trade agricultural products on world exchanges.) Although most of the attention may center on record gold prices, most of the [...] Continue Reading...
ETFs For Higher Oil Prices, Energy ETFs, Dividend ETFs, Emerging Market ETFs, Canada ETF, Russia ETF Click here to listen to the show: 3-6-11 Continue Reading...
There’s one issue that has been bothering me for quite some time. Why would investors eagerly pay 21x forward earnings estimates for the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM), when they can pay roughly 14x forward earnings estimates for the S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY)? Six months earlier, the forward P/E ratios had demonstrated a similar discrepancy. Yet the markets rewarded [...] Continue Reading...
With uncertainty surrounding the price of oil, it could be easy to miss other compelling headlines. For instance, Tom Lydon explains that Japanese equities may be the cheapest investments around. Moreover, the demand for Japanese products and services may strengthen for years to come. In Japan, industrial production increases have led to employment gains. And while imports exceded exports in Japan for the first time in [...] Continue Reading...
Nearly every visitor to the CNBC microphone is making the same proclamation; that is, emerging markets can’t handle commodity price inflation as well as developed markets. The problem with this analysis is the conclusion that each is providing. Specifically, stock assets from the U.S, Japan and the Euro-zone will outperform the industrializing world. This has been true for the previous 6 [...] Continue Reading...
Bespoke recently noted that the U.S. dollar is down about 3% year-to-date. Not surpisingly, large U.S. companies with extensive operations abroad witnessed extaordinary price appreciation — 7% through the first 2 months of 2011. Many wonder, however, whether or not U.S. large cap strength can continue. Geopolitical turmoil has caused a surge in oil prices and oil-rich Country ETFs. Even the days of safe-haven seeking in the greenback [...] Continue Reading...
