Volatility ETNs can serve as tools to protect assets that you already have in your portfolio. For example, 80% of the time over the last year, the iPath S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term ETN (VXZ) moved in the opposite direction of the S&P 500 itself. It follows that an active investor could purchase exchange-traded note protection if he/she is concerned about [...] Continue Reading...
In 2011, the S&P 500 began the year with remarkable fanfare. The benchmark raked in 2.4% in January alone. And yet, in 2012, the S&P 500 has been even more impressive, snagging an eye-popping 4.4%. The reasons for the risk-on gains may be easy to identify, from the notion that U.S. economic prospects are improving to the feeling that Europe will contain [...] Continue Reading...
Copper is one of the world’s most popular metals. It is used in everything from water pipes to radiators to air conditioning systems. Some will say that the industrial metal posesses a Ph.D. in economics… it is that critical to world GDP growth. One country alone is responsible for about 40% of the world’s copper reserves and roughly 35% of copper [...] Continue Reading...
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper isn’t too pleased that Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, a vessel that would have shipped crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico. However, on Thursday, Harper described the exporting of Canadian energy as a “national priority” and pledged to fast-track regulatory approval. In contrast, U.S. natural gas producers are still hoping to get the “thumbs up”on natural gas [...] Continue Reading...
In 2011, U.S. financial stocks collectively posted the worst performance of the 10 major economic segments. Not only did the SPDR Select Sector Financial Fund (XLF) decline 17%, but the P/E ratio for the sector contracted 22%. In 2012, the skies have been a little brighter for banks, insurers and property developers. The S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY) has [...] Continue Reading...
With the S&P 500 garnering 4.6% in less than 3 weeks, are money managers becoming skittish? If hundreds of millions flowing out of a few select ETFs is any indication, then the answer is, “Yes.” On 1/19/2012, institutional advisers used their block accounts to dump roughly $120 million of iShares Russell Top 200 Growth (IWY) and $80 million of [...] Continue Reading...
In 2011, S&P 500 profits expanded 15%. And yet, the benchmark’s price finished in the very same place that it started the year. In essence, since prices flat-lined and earnings experienced double-digit growth, a fundamentally inexpensive stock market via the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) became even cheaper. The most common reason cited for P/E contraction in 2011? The Euro Zone debt crisis. Obviously, sovereign [...] Continue Reading...
LIBOR (London Inter-Bank Offered Rate) is the interest rate that fellow European banks will charge other banks. Put another way, it is the rate at which a financial institution in the region can borrow money. In order for banks to operate, they are consistently lending out and/or borrowing. If they cannot exchange with one another, required reserve levels could be deemed “inadequate” or investors could [...] Continue Reading...
The headline unemployment number has fallen to 8.5% from a “Great Recession” high that is well north of 9%. Many say that the trend is heading in the right direction. And the media are beginning to tout the executive branch of government as having contributed to ”job creation.” Privately, many economists decry that systematic wealth redistribution is incapable of creating jobs — issues [...] Continue Reading...
Approximately one month ago, Standard & Poor’s placed 15 European nations on review for potential credit downgrades. In spite of the implications, Italian bonds began to climb and their yields began to fall, as many were hopeful that an upcoming summit between European Union leaders might put an end to the region’s spreading debt crisis. Indeed, on [...] Continue Reading...
