This time last year, investors were generally thrilled with the performances of their portfolios, which had continued to bounce back nicely from the devastating recession that hit in 2008. Unfortunately, few are feeling the same sense of accomplishment as 2011 draws to a close; this year has been frustrating in that a few large, swift sell-offs erased any gains that had accumulated, leaving many risky asset classes in negative territory for the year [see also Checking In: Top 5 Equity ETFs of 2010].
Continued concerns about the fiscal health of Europe have weighted on markets around the globe, demonstrating once again just how intertwined global markets are and how struggles in one corner of the globe can translate into difficulties elsewhere. Through December 20, the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) had managed to squeeze out a small gain on the year–which was considerably better than popular international equity ETFs. Emerging markets, as measured by EEM, had lost almost 20% on the year, while the EAFE region had been dragged down by Europe, losing about 13%. [click to continue…]
After a record-setting October gave investors hope that 2011 would finish on a strong note, the first couple weeks of November have effectively taken any wind out of those sails. The culprit–surprise, surprise–has been the cash-strapped PIIGS economies of Europe, with Italy now grabbing the spotlight as a serious credit risk and a grave threat [...]
The housing sector has been rather difficult to predict in the past few years. Once the U.S. housing bubble burst and the Great Recession began, investors pulled out of a number of domestic equities fearing that the crisis would last for quite some time. Unfortunately, those investors were correct, as housing in the U.S. is [...]
Over the past decade, China has become an incredible economic force, surging from an investment afterthought to one of the key nations for trade in the world today. The country is currently the world’s second biggest economy from a GDP perspective and exports more products, in dollar terms, than any other nation on earth. Yet, with [...]
As the ETF industry has expanded rapidly in recent years, the universe of asset classes and investment strategies accessible through the exchange-traded wrapper has increased dramatically. In addition to funds offering exposure to natural resources and volatility–two asset classes previously beyond the reach of many investors–a number of products have popped up that seek to [...]
Van Eck announced the latest addition to its ETF lineup on Wednesday, introducing the Market Vectors Mortgage REITs ETF (MORT). The new fund will seek to replicate the Market Vectors Global Mortgage REITs Index, a cap-weighted benchmark comprised of companies that generate at least half of their revenues from mortgage REITs. That segment of the [...]
IndexIQ, the issuer perhaps best known for its hedge fund replication ETFs, rolled out the latest addition to its growing suite of small cap lineup today: the IQ U.S. Real Estate Small Cap ETF (ROOF). The new product will be the first to offer exposure exclusively to small cap U.S. REITs, seeking to replicate the [...]
By many measures, the U.S. economy has come a long way since the depths of the most recent recession; since bottoming out in early 2009, most equity indexes have climbed sharply higher and reclaimed much of the ground lost during the preceding free fall. GDP growth has swung back to the positive territory, the U.S. [...]
To say that the current investment landscape is complex would be quite the understatement. Recent weeks have seen environmental, humanitarian, and economic crises break out in Japan, with the aftershocks rippling throughout the global economy. Moving across the globe, the Libyan Crisis has dominated headlines for quite some time now, as a series of revolutions [...]
Charles Schwab announced the latest addition to its ETF lineup today, launching the Schwab U.S. REIT ETF (SCHH) and Schwab U.S. Mid-Cap ETF (SCHM). The real estate fund will seek to replicate the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select REIT Index, the same index to which the SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF (RWR) is [...]
Vanguard continued its blitz of new ETF products this week, rolling out an international counterpart to its ultra-popular real estate ETF (VNQ). The Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Index Fund began trading on Monday; the new fund is available in four different share classes, including ETF shares (VNQI). The fund will seek to replicate the [...]
