The U.S. stock market has actually outperformed the overwhelming majority of world equity markets on a local currency basis. However, the dollar’s year-to-date slide has inflated the returns of developed world ETFs like iShares MSCI France (EWQ) and iShares Italy (EWI). In fact, virtually all of the gains for Foreign Stock ETFs traded on U.S. exchanges can be attributed to the [...] [...more]
For the most part, frontier markets still haven’t intrigued investors at large. Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Morocco, Qatar — there’s really no shortage of possibilities. As new countries come to the forefront such as the recently introduced iShares Philippines (EPHE), will the emerging growth story give way to a frontier growth boom? Or will BRIC nations and Asia ETFs continue to dominate inflow? Frontier Market [...] [...more]
Investors have many choices when deciding which Energy ETFs they might add to their portolio. Consider the disparity between oil and natural gas. Oil is up nearly 10% on the year while natural gas has dropped as much as 60%. With resources taking a hit on Asian inflation fears, could picking Energy ETFs on down days give your portfolio a year-end boost?What about the [...] [...more]
China is in the process of making a bold shift from an export-dependent economy to a versatile importer-exporter. Of course, a great deal would depend on expansion of the country’s middle class as well as a continuation of stellar economic growth. (The IMF anticipates 10%+ for 2010.) Some evidence may already be showing that China is leading the world out [...] [...more]
Invest in the home builders… are you kidding? It probably seems like a roll of the dice for most investors. Volatility notwithstanding, there are some intrepid souls who believe that the expanded buyer tax credit and an improving economic picture will be a boon to the hardest hit companies… the construction companies. Here are a variety [...] [...more]
