The Economist tracks 42 distinct markets that represent 41 unique countries. Hong Kong is the stand-alone with its Hang Seng Index, separate and distinct from China’s Shanghai exchanges. So how are world stock assets peforming on the year? Through the mid-way point of July (7/15), only 13 of the 42 markets were positive in their local currencies. Put another [...] Continue Reading...
With a variety of benchmark ETFs hitting multi-year highs on 7/7/11 – Powershares Nasdaq 100 (QQQ), iShares Russell 2000 (IWM), iShares DJ Transports (IYT) — investors have placed the May-June swoon in their rear view. What’s more, economically sensitive sectors like tech and consumer discretionary are leading the charge. In fact, some analysts believe that the momentum in cyclicals is a clear sign that the [...] Continue Reading...
Even the bulls have been hedging their commentary lately. For example, Blackrock’s Bob Doll frequently points to accommodative monetary policy, strong corporate results and an increasingly self-sustaining economy as reasons for stocks to grind higher. More recently, though, the chief equity strategist acknowledged economic malaise by philosophizing, “A significant acceleration or deceleration in the pace of jobs growth has [...] Continue Reading...
The emerging market growth story is beautiful in its simplicity. Younger people with increasing amounts of income in industrializing countries should drive demand for more products, services, infrastructure and housing. Of course, the emergers are not without their concerns. They face more vexing inflation than developed economies. They’re more dependent on the natural resources they can or cannot export. [...] Continue Reading...
The latest weekly data from the Investment Company Institute? Money market fund inflows exceeded $24 billion. That represents the largest weekly increase since December. The lion’s share of the jump came from institutional shifts. No surprise there… money managers have been raising their cash levels in anticipation of a highly probable pullback. Nevertheless, U.S. stocks remain resilient. [...] Continue Reading...
Picking individual countries is not entirely dissimiliar to picking individual companies. You can tirelessly pursue “best of breed” stocks, but you may have better fortune with diversified index funds. Similarly, you might endeavor to ferret out a premier single-country ETF. Yet, over time, employing a diversified regional ETF is likely to provide more rewarding risk-adjusted results. With that said, if you’re willing to put [...] 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...
The S&P 500 garnered as much as 5.4% in the first 3 months of 2011. What might we expect for the next quarter? Other than Jim Cramer, most would likely concede that the April-June period could be a bit tougher for U.S. stocks. “Almanac traders” would point to 100 years of data on Q2 underperformance. “Inflation fighters” would chronicle the directionality of core [...] Continue Reading...
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) closed more than 10% above its long-term 200-day moving average. That hasn’t happened since August of 2010, back when investors fretted the possibility of a double-dip recession. Today, the worries are more cumulative in nature. Uncertain job growth, depressed home values, debt troubles in Europe, rising commodity prices, the threat of rising rates, inflation in Asia, [...] Continue Reading...
State Street didn’t invent the concept of dividend-oriented exposure to emerging markets. The Matthews Fund family has been ultra-successful with its Matthews Asia Dividend Fund (MAPIX) for many years. What’s more, WisdomTree’s Emerging Market Equity Income ETF (DEM) tracks an emerging market dividend index and has been a mainstay since July of 2007. With that said, MAPIX focuses exclusively on [...] Continue Reading...
