With the finish line in sight, it’s fairly safe to say that 2011 will be remembered by most investors as a wild, back-and-forth year that brought plenty of both hope and despair. A hot start raised optimism of a continued recovery after a generally impressive 2011, but the summer months were anything but relaxing; major indexes suffered some of the worst losses since the recent recession.
In examining the year-to-date performances for the 1,000+ ETPs that have been around since the beginning of the year, there are a number of interesting figures that jump out, including both pleasant surprises and bitter disappointments–and some that are just plain confusing [the complete, sortable, document is available in ETF Edge--sign up for a free 7-day trial to get full access]. [click to continue…]
Resurfacing Italian debt woes paved the way for persistent volatility in the markets last week, further deteriorating the economic outlook of the financially fragile currency bloc. Selling pressures overwhelmed the bulls on Wall Street, despite a host of better-than-expected economic data releases on the home front, including surprisingly strong retail sales, new home starts, industrial [...]
It’s no secret that the euro-zone has been the center of market turmoil for the past few weeks as well as a lingering issue for the past year. The thorn in investors’ side comes from a slew of fiscal issues that have already led to one unsuccessful bailout, prompting another austerity package that has yet to be put in [...]
The ETF industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the last five years and innovation across products has brought forth a multitude of previously inaccessible investment strategies to mainstream investors. Aside from the vast expansion in the exchange-traded product universe, the last five years have been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. Global [...]
Since the downgrade of U.S. credit quality in August, investors have turned their attention to the debt drama taking place overseas. Several Euro zone member nations have fallen victim to mounting government deficits, which has inevitably contributed to investor worries over the health of the financially fragile currency bloc. Economic growth has also been lackluster [...]
Given the broad weakness in the euro zone throughout 2011 and the ever-present fears of default in a number of nations, most investors shouldn’t be surprised to read that all of the ETFs in the European Equities ETFdb Category are down in year-to-date terms. In fact, at time of writing, only the iShares MSCI UK [...]
Earlier today, Eric Dutram, Analyst and Head of Editorial at ETF Database, was on BNN discussing ETFs that have been heavily impacted by the European debt crisis. In the interview, Eric gave his outlook for the European situation as well as some funds to avoid should events deteriorate further in the euro zone. Additionally, Eric [...]
While reports of jobless rates in the U.S. or the pace of inflation in China occasionally pop to the top of the headlines, the last several months have seen the spotlight focused on European markets as the continent continues to battle a debt crisis that has threatened to derail a fragile economic recovery. While the [...]
The crisis in Libya has put a number of market sectors in focus as of late as oil prices have surged to levels unseen in several years. With the economic recovery still in a fragile state, some are growing increasingly worried that the high prices for crude could sink global markets and push the world [...]
The first month of 2011 is in the books, and January certainly displayed no shortage of action for investors. Earnings season kicked off to a relatively strong start, though disappointments sprinkled throughout cast some doubt on the strength of an ongoing recovery. Last year was a good one for almost every asset class, with the [...]
The sovereign debt crisis in Europe that spanned much of 2010–and looks to carry over into 2011 as well–put a variety of European economies under the spotlight. Both major economies, such as Spain, and minor nations such as Ireland felt the heat from investors, citizens, and foreign governments alike, who were all growing increasingly concerned [...]
