Over the last year, U.S. equity markets have staged a remarkable recovery as volatility has plummeted and the emergency stimulus measures implemented amidst heated debate appear to have had their intended effect. Indications that unemployment may be close to peaking and that consumer confidence is on the rise once again only add fuel to the recovery fire. [click to continue…]
Over the past 18 months, housing prices have retreated sharply from the highs reached at the end of the housing boom. However, there are reasons to believe that one of the longest and most severe housing slumps ever is nearing an end. Building permits recently increased to a 584,000 yearly pace, well above the forecasted [...]
As investors have become more and more educated on the advantages of ETFs over traditional actively-managed mutual funds, billions of dollars have flowed into these funds, and ETFs have evolved from a cult following to a mainstream investment vehicle. Driven by the success of “plain vanilla” ETFs that offer exposure to well-known, broad-based equity and [...]
With the rapid declines in the equity markets over the past year and increasing worries about inflation, many investors have been looking for alternative ETF investments to reduce volatility in their portfolios and establish at least a partial hedge against deteriorating economic conditions. One of the most popular options for doing so has been commodity [...]