Broad equity markets got off to a rocky start this week, but managed to erase their earlier losses with energy stocks successfully overshadowing worse-than-expected U.S. housing data. The Commerce Department announced that housing sales fell for the second consecutive month in February, leading many investors to believe that the housing market is not quite on stable grounds yet. Friday proved to be a bad day for BATS and high frequency traders, as a flash crash in Apple shares and other technological issues forced trading to halt and the BATS’ IPO to be cancelled. Many traders experienced a dejavu from the Dow Jones’ Flash Crash two years ago, which had the index tumbling nearly 1,000 points in minutes. Friday’s glitch had many investors demanding that this market issue be addressed, arguing that these type of events help rattle and undermine market confidence [see also Money Market ETFs In Focus: MINT vs. GSY].
The ETF industry churned out only three new funds this week: Van Eck introduced its Small Cap Indonesia ETF, Direxion debuted its Equal Weight NASDAQ ETF, and UBS added to their monthly leveraged lineup with its Leveraged Real Estate ETN.
Below we outline three of the best ETF stories from around the web this past week:
Don’t Wait Too Long To Inflation-Proof Your Portfolio at Forbes:
Inflation is perhaps an investor’s worst nightmare, hacking away at bottom line returns and shrinking portfolio’s real profits. Although inflation readings are currently low, it is important for investors to understand the three main indicators of price levels: the consumer price index, core price index, and the producer price index. In this article, author Kevin Mahn explains what exactly these indicators mean and utilizes ETF Database’s information to analyze the price movements in the agriculture and energy sectors.
Investing In Emerging Markets: Is It Time To Invest In Thailand? at Money Morning:
Over the past few years, interest in emerging markets has surged as investors continue to be lured to this highly lucrative corner of the market. Amidst sluggish economic growth and rock-bottom interest rates, emerging market countries have certainly been a bright spot for investors who wish to add more growth potential and diversification benefits to their portfolios. This article, by Martin Hutchinson, explains why Thailand should be investors’ next pick for emerging market exposure and outlines how investors can tap into this market through ETFs.
ETFs To Bet Against Apple at ETF Database:
With its highly anticipated dividend announcement, Apple has been making major headlines across the globe, further solidifying its position of one of the most widely followed companies ever. Despite the company’s impressive performance and status as leading tech innovator, some investors question its current valuation in the market. In this article, Michael Johnston outlines several different ways investors can make a bet against Apple.
Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.
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