The development of the ETF industry has in many ways leveled the investing playing field, bringing strategies previously available only to large institutions and sophisticated, high net worth investors to anyone with a Scottrade account. Most of these “democratizations” have involved very complex, high-risk tactics. Leveraged ETFs, hedge fund ETFs, and long/short ETFs have significantly expanded the investment options available to “average” investors. [click to continue…]
by Andy H on September 30, 2009
September was one of the most active months in the ETF industry in recent memory. We saw a wave of new fund launches from industry leaders and smaller players alike, along with perhaps the first of many commodity fund closures. September saw the introduction of another actively-managed ETF, proposals on several more innovative funds, and [...]
Home prices in the U.S., as measured by the S&P Case Shiller home price indexes, rose in July over the previous month, as 18 of the 20 metropolitan areas comprising the benchmark saw saw a boost to real estate values. For the 16th consecutive month, every region saw year-over-year declines, but the pace of those [...]
According to our ETF screener, of the ten best performing equity ETFs year to date, coal ETFs account for two of the list, both are up more than 97% in 2009. With winter fast approaching, many investors are wondering if coal ETFs can continue to power portfolio gains, or if their rally will fizzle out. [...]
Over the weekend in Germany, an alliance between the conservative Christian Democratic Union and the pro-business Free Democratic Party claimed a majority in Germany’s lower house of Parliament that could set the stage for slashes to government spending and income taxes. German Chancellor Angela Merkel now has a partner who supports implementing tax cuts, not [...]
When they were introduced several years ago, exchange-traded commodity products were hailed as a major breakthrough, offering average investors easy, cost efficient exposure to an asset class that had previously been accessible primarily through futures markets and physical storage of natural resources, both of which are beyond the reach of many investors (see our complete [...]
Over the weekend the Spanish government approved a 2010 budget featuring significant tax hikes to support increases in government spending. Spain has seen spending surge over the last year as the country attempts to avoid a prolonged recession that some analysts fear could result in a “lost generation” similar to Japan’s fate following the Nikkei [...]
Last week was the busiest for initial public offerings in the U.S. in more than a year and a half, with seven IPOs raising more than $3 billion. The total was the highest since March 2008, when Visa’s $20 billion IPO led the way to a record-setting week. Companies going public last week included:
On Friday, iShares launched three new funds targeting the 200 largest firms in the Russell Index, a group that comprises approximately 65% of the U.S. market. The funds are:
Denver-based United States Commodity Funds has launched another exchange-traded commodity product, its first to offer inverse exposure to commodity prices. The United States Short Oil Fund (DNO) began trading this week on the NYSE Arca Exchange. DNO is the sixth product from United States Commodity funds, joining products offering exposure to crude oil (USO), natural [...]
It’s been an interesting week in the world of ETFs: The leaders of the G-20 nations met in Pittsburgh, existing home sales fell 2.7% in August, and oil fell below $66/bbl. Here are the ETF Database staff picks of the week’s most important and interesting stories from around the Web:
