After soaring from all time lows in March 2009 through the end of the year, many alternative-energy ETFs have fallen sharply in 2010, as crumbling government finances have forced certain countries to scale back or eliminate altogether subsidies to this still-nascent industry. Many alternative energy sectors have tumbled by 10% or more in the first quarter of 2010, catching the attention of value investors keeping an eye out for attractive entry points. One particularly interesting corner of the alternative energy market is the wind sector, which some believe has an extremely bright future. [click to continue…]
Although equity markets generally headed higher in the first quarter of 2010, there were a few funds that were not so lucky and became the early leaders in the Laggard of The Year race. The S&P 500 finished the quarter up close to 6%, but European markets stumbled in the wake of an on-and-off crisis [...]
Whenever a company prepares for a public offering, executives have been known to spend an inordinate amount of time choosing the combination of letters that will serve as the company’s ticker and often nickname within the investment community. To many, the fixation on selecting the perfect ticker seems like an irrational obsession on par with [...]
It’s been an interesting week in the world of ETFs: gold trading was extremely volatile, and world leaders met in Denmark to discuss climate issues. Here are the ETF Database staff picks of the week’s most important and interesting stories from around the Web:
Over the past two years, the primary focus of world leaders has been the series of economic crises that have threatened to erase years of progress and growth. With all available resources dedicated towards avoiding a prolonged downturn, many social and environmental issues have been moved to the back burner. Now, with a seemingly stable [...]
The Chinese government is considering the implementation of a ban on the export of rare earth metals, a move that could have a significant impact on industries around the globe that rely on the materials for the production of everything from hybrid cars to air defense missiles. A draft report prepared by China’s Ministry of [...]
Over the last two years, equity markets have cratered, volatility has skyrocketed, and retirement portfolios have been crushed under the weight of a global recession and seemingly unending uncertainty. But over this period, the ETF industry has enjoyed astonishing success, attracting billions of dollars away from traditional mutual funds and redefining the business of long-term [...]
In his fourth press conference since taking office in January, president Obama focused on establishing sustainable clean energy initiatives and implementing a comprehensive healthcare reform, slowly turning his attention from the financial and economic crises that have consumed his presidency to date. The topics addressed in Tuesday afternoon’s press conferences signal that the administration may [...]
As the ETF industry has exploded and investors have poured cash from traditional mutual funds into these investments, a number of interesting ETFs have popped up attempting to establish market share. One interesting sector consists of socially responsible ETFs, which generally invest in companies with positive and ethical environmental and social policies. These funds will often avoid companies [...]
