Last year, the U.S. hit the bottom of one of the worst recessions in its history. Though the year started out on a sour note–stocks plunged for the first two months of 2009–markets finally bottomed out in early March, and then began a furious rally that saw many asset classes reclaim some of the ground lost during the 12 months. Markets trended steadily higher for the remainder of the year, and some of the assets hit the hardest on the way down turned in some huge gains on the way back up (through many still finished the year well below their pre-recession highs).
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As investors have grown more comfortable allocating more significant portions of portfolios to emerging markets, the number of ETFs offering exposure to these regions of the world has surged in recent years. Exchange-traded products now exist offering investors exposure to a variety of markets that were once hard-to-access for all but the largest and most [...]
Interest in emerging markets has grown tremendously over the past few years, as the developing world has accounted for almost all of global GDP growth while the U.S., Western Europe, and other developed countries struggle to get back on track. Many investors have embraced ETFs as a means of overweighting the emerging markets, favoring the [...]
No matter where investors look in the developed world, the picture isn’t pretty. In the U.S. unemployment remains intolerably high, and uncertainty over the latest round of QE will continue to hang over stock markets. In Europe efforts to control surging deficits have been met with protests and public outrage, complicating the process of reeling [...]
After watching rival Vanguard roll out more than a dozen domestic equity ETFs earlier this month, iShares continues to focus its attention on international stock markets, rolling out three new ETFs on Wednesday. The new funds include the MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index Fund (EPHE), MSCI Small Cap Brazil Index Fund (EWZS), and MSCI Small [...]
As the term ‘BRIC’ has entered the average American’s lexicon over the past two decades, many investors have seen the promise and peril of exposure to these rising superpowers. As more have invested and globalization has occurred, the correlation between these markets and industrialized nations has risen substantially; the once untapped markets see billions of [...]
As Western nations’ economies continue to crumble, many are beginning to see the benefits of a well diversified economy which has a robust industrial base. Countries with these economies have held up better than most no matter what stage their development as industrial jobs stay in demand thanks to growing Asian economies. Resource-rich nations such [...]
Trouble has been brewing for sometime now in developed markets; high unemployment rates and slow growth in the U.S. have combined with a gloomy currency outlook and huge budget deficits in Europe to leave many worried about two of the most important economic areas in the world. However, emerging markets have continued to soar higher [...]
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 [...]
After a surge from mid-February to late-April, domestic equity markets fell sharply to close out the first half of the year, limping across the finish line on continued fears over the euro zone and weak job growth. This drop has put many U.S. benchmarks at their lowest level since early October of 2009, and has [...]
With the developed markets of the world crippled by mounting debt, stagnant growth, and suddenly severe political risk, investors have undeniably begun allocating a larger portion of their portfolios to emerging markets. Boosted by ongoing urbanization, flexible and cheap manufacturing, and an abundance of natural resources, the developing economies have emerged as the leaders of [...]
