Two of the most bullish voices in the mainstream media include money manager Ken Fisher and Bob Doll, the chief equity strategist at Blackrock. Fisher experienced an epic “fail” by completely missing the 2007-2009 bear/financial collapse; he had little choice but to stick with a never-ending bullish theme to claim credit for calling the “turnaround.” Bob Doll has always [...] Continue Reading...
Through Wednesday, the S&P is up about 7.8% on the year. Energy (XLE) has claimed nearly 17%. Meanwhile, Healthcare (IYH) has been surprisingly strong with 11%+ in 2011. Yet, not all Stock ETFs are keeping pace. SPDR Select Technology (XLK) is only up 5.9%, in spite of solid tech profitability, impressive sales and strong forward guidance. Does the underperformance imply that [...] Continue Reading...
The Fed left interest rates alone again. Of course, as we all know, this was not the main story. The fact that Chairman Bernanke would address the central bank’s monetary policy in a 45-minute Q&A session was the actual headliner. Granted, everyone in the world of finance will have their own interpretation of the historical event. For me, [...] Continue Reading...
The financial sector remains one of the most decimated areas from the bear market of October 2007 – March 2009. For instance, the Financial Select SPDR (XLF), KBW Bank ETF (KBE) and SPDR KBW Regional Banking ETF (KRE) are STILL down 57%, 58% and 48% from their respective highs in 2007. Contrast “financials” with the SPDR S&P 500 Trust (SPY) or iShares MSCI Emerging [...] Continue Reading...
For Atlas Shrugged fans, “Who is John Galt?” is the catch-phrase that unites proud producers around the country. Similarly, sophisticated television viewers have been dying to determine “Who killed Rosie Larsen?” in the AMC production of The Killing. There’s a bit more pomposity in the investment arena, however. Rather than admit to one’s inability to predict [...] Continue Reading...
Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Chevron report their earnings this week. As oil prices soar on Middle East unrest and stable global demand, many expect these corporations to report phenomenal results. Investors will want to keep an eye on ETF bellwethers like the Energy Select SPDR (XLE) to see if the earnings growth translates into share price appreciation. XLE has already [...] Continue Reading...
Two years ago, Van Eck’s Market Vectors made a big splash with its introduction of Small Cap Brazil (BRF). It was the second highly anticipated small cap country fund, as Claymore’s (Guggenheim) Small Cap China (HAO) had been an instantaneous success. Of course, the investment community didn’t embrace every small country offering with unbridled fervor. For instance, WisdomTree’s [...] Continue Reading...
Investors in the Brazil Bovespa Index nearly quadrupled their money in the first decade of this century. In contrast, the same years in a U.S. stock index may have resulted in a loss of principal. With minerals, natural resources and materials galore, many believe that Brazil will continue to benefit investors immensely. Of course, that doesn’t mean that selecting the best [...] Continue Reading...
China ETFs, Small China ETFs, India ETFs, Global ETFs, Currency ETFs Click here to listen to the show: 4-24-2011 Continue Reading...
Market watchers have been “bedazzled” by gold’s new price tag at $1500 per ounce. Similarly, ETF enthusiasts have been intrigued by Van Eck’s ability to attract $500 million in assets for Market Vectors Rare Earth Metals (REMX); the exchange-traded fund has been in existence for less than 6 months! Performance for many of the Metal ETFs and Metal [...] Continue Reading...
