As the investment picture has become more clouded over the past few months thanks to mounting obstacles throughout the developed world, many investors have looked to those “experts” with a history of navigating through challenging environments. One increasingly popular economist who has seen his stock soar in the past few years is Nouriel Roubini, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Roubini gained a cult following after his incredibly accurate predictions regarding the events of the recent financial crisis. He foretold the mortgage disaster that has left the American economy in shambles, telling economists at an IMF meeting in 2006 of the coming wave of foreclosures, the MBS mess, and the destruction that was soon to hit major financial institutions around the globe. While many were skeptical of these initial predictions, they were ultimately proven to be right on target–perhaps surprising even Roubini himself. Unfortunately, “Dr. Doom” doesn’t believe that the clouds are lifting just yet, as the now famous economics professor has a rather pessimistic take on Europe’s increasingly precarious debt situation. [click to continue…]
In many instances, ETFs have allowed more active investors to change their strategy for allocating assets and alter the manner in which they seek to generate alpha. Instead of seeking to identify undervalued companies through detailed analysis of financial statements, many now implement a more high level approach that includes identifying sectors, regions, or even [...]
A second week of earnings did little to clarify the market’s direction despite quality reports out of a host of important American corporations. After another flat Monday, markets surged on Tuesday after a strong report from Apple boosted hopes for the consumer discretionary sector as well as the electronics market. However, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke [...]
The 2010 FIFA World Cup final will take place this Sunday with the match being between Netherlands and Spain. In light of this major sporting event, we compare and contrast the two ETFs tracking the respective countries to see who would win a match on the financial pitch.
Just when many investors thought that the world economy was finally back on track, European debt markets were rocked by a crisis of confidence that sparked fresh concerns of a double dip recession and prolonged period of economic contraction. The sovereign debt crisis began earlier this year in Greece, but in recent months has been [...]
Most investors aren’t exactly anxious to discuss the recent performance of their portfolios after the worst recession in a generation wiped out as much as 70% of some asset classes. But on the whole, the last 15 months have given investors plenty of reasons to smile, as global equity markets staged an impressive comeback in [...]
As the second quarter mercifully draws to a close, many investors are left scratching their heads and wondering just where the world economy will go from here. Just a few short weeks ago, investors were upbeat and many thought that the groundwork had been laid for a second half surge. However, recent events have called [...]
Equity markets finished a rough quarter yesterday, as most major indexes fell back sharply after surging higher to start the year. The quarter was especially difficult for Europe and in particular the PIGS of Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. In fact, the worst performing ETF in the Europe Equities ETFdb Category is the iShares MSCI [...]
One of the greatest spectacles in sports kicks off in South Africa over the weekend, with 32 countries gathering to compete in the final stages of the World Cup. Even the economists of the world have taken an interest in the upcoming matches; ABN Amro recently released a note predicting that the world economy would [...]
Europe continues to steer global equity markets in 2010, as stocks around the world have taken their cues from a bloc of developed economies teetering on the brink of a sovereign debt crisis. As a crisis born in the shadow of Mount Olympus threatens to spread throughout the euro zone, governments have taken drastic–and often [...]
Wall Street’s brutal losing streak came to an end on Thursday, as concerns over the euro zone’s woes eased and global equity markets surged. Investors cheered remarks from Beijing indicating that China doesn’t plan to sell its European bond holdings, a scenario that could have flooded the market. Meanwhile in Spain, the government approved new [...]
