In recent years ETFs have become popular tools for pursuing a wide range of investment objectives. As the product lineup has become more granular in nature, investors have turned to exchange-traded products as a way to tap into narrow segments of the global stock market; the current product offerings include a number of funds that zero in on very specific industries. Gold mining stocks have been the target of growing interest in recent years, as investors have sought out ways to play precious metals. And in many cases, those seeking out gold miner stocks are using the exchange-traded structure to get there; currently, there is more than $7 billion invested in gold miner ETFs. [click to continue…]
In recent years, gold has become arguably the most popular commodity from an investing perspective, and with good reason. Gold and the funds that track it have provided some massive returns for traders and investors all around the globe. But that popularity got especially heated in 2010 and the first half of 2011, as gold [...]
UBS, one of the largest issuers of ETNs including a number of commodity products, is the latest to make an addition to the fast-growing ETP lineup. The new ETRACS DJ-UBS Commodity Index 2-4-6 Blended Futures ETN (BLND) will take a unique approach to delivering exposure to commodity futures. The underlying Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index 2-4-6 [...]
Natural gas has been one of the most frustrating commodities this year, as investors have attempted to call its bottom again and again, only to watch it fall to new lows. NG futures have sank by more than 35% this year, as a warm winter coupled with large deposits of the resource have put major [...]
United States Commodity Funds rolled out another addition to its suite of “third generation” commodity ETPs this week, debuting a fund that will take a unique approach to delivering access to agriculture commodities. The United States Agriculture Index Fund (USAG) will implement a variation of the methodology used by USCI, dubbed the “contango killer” commodity [...]
With equity markets charging (generally) higher since the start of 2012, it’s no wonder that gold has been largely off the radar for many investors. Despite evading news headlines over the past few months, speculation over where the precious yellow metal is headed has not died down one bit. Given the impressive bull-run on Wall [...]
Equity markets turned south on Tuesday as pre-earnings jitters coupled with resurfacing Euro zone debt woes paved the way for selling pressures. Stocks in the overseas currency bloc plunged as Spanish and Italian government bond yields surged, reminding investors of the looming debt drama. Amidst the volatility on Wall Street, demand for safe haven assets [...]
As interest in gold as an investable asset has increased in recent years, more and more investors looking to gain exposure to the precious metal are turning to exchange-traded products. U.S.-listed gold ETPs now have assets in excess of $80 billion, representing a material portion of the total industry. Gold ETPs have generally performed very [...]
Stocks finished the day off relatively flat as the S&P 500 posted its worst week of the year, granted markets are closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday. After shying away for several weeks, European fears heated up again on the day as investors worry over the mounting debts and solvency of varying regions of [...]
Stocks extended their losses from yesterday as the bears stuck around on Wall Street. Selling pressures carried over as investors were quite displeased to hear from the FOMC on Tuesday that additional stimulus measures would be unlikely at this time. Profit taking continued as investors dialed back their risk appetites even further; the Nasdaq led the way [...]
Bearish pressures took hold of Wall Street on Tuesday as investors broadly pulled the sell trigger following the latest FOMC meeting. The Fed minutes revealed that central bank members “generally agreed that the economic outlook, while a bit stronger overall, was broadly similar to that at the time of their January meeting”. Equity markets were [...]
