The summer months generally bring a slowdown in trading activity on Wall Street, so it isn’t surprising that product development activity has seemingly slowed a bit in the ETF industry as of late. After dozens of new product launches in previous months, just ten new ETFs debuted in July according to the ETF Launch Center. And as we near the midway point in August, only four new ETFs have started trading this month: the India Consumer ETF (INCO), Emerging Markets High Beta Low Income ETF (HILO), SmallCap 600 Equal Weight ETF (EWSM), and MidCap 400 Equal Weight ETF (EWMD). [click to continue…]
Over the past two years, the financial sector has seen more than its fair share of ups and downs. After being pushed to the brink of complete collapse after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, financials recovered to reclaim big chunks of the ground lost and finish 2009 as one of the year’s best performers. The financial [...]
ProShares continues to be one of the most active ETF issuers of 2010, announcing the launch on Thursday of the first inverse and leveraged ETFs offering exposure to regional banks. The Ultra KBW Regional Banking (KRU) will seek daily returns equal to 200% of the return on the KBW Regional Banking Index, while the Short [...]
Direxion, one of the leaders in the rapidly-expanding leveraged ETF space, has filed for approval on 36 new ETFs, including two non-leveraged products. The Direxion Auto Shares would seek to match the performance of the Indus Global Auto & Auto Suppliers Index, a benchmark that consists of approximately 30 companies engaged in the manufacturing, maintenance, [...]
The Obama presidency took a turn towards increased government intervention in the private sector last week when the president stepped up his campaign against Wall Street and announced a far-reaching proposal for tougher regulation of the country’s biggest banks. Backed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, Obama put forth a plan designed to limit [...]
For most investors, 2009 has been a very good year, with a surge in liquidity leading almost all asset classes to big gains. As many national economies emerged from recession, investors regained their appetite for risk, sending emerging markets funds through the rook (these funds dominated the list of the Top Ten Performing Equity ETFs). [...]
This earnings season, which many analysts have called the most important in decades, has certainly had its shares of disappointments. Boeing reported a larger-than-expected loss and reduced its full year guidance to levels more than 40% below Wall Street expectations. AMR, parent of American Airlines, reported a huge loss, hurt by a tough environment and [...]
Earnings season surprises continued on Thursday, with strong reports from Travelers, 3M, and McDonald’s contributing to a rally in U.S. equity markets. The Dow reclaimed the 10,000 level that it crossed just last week for the first time in a year. The ETFdb 60 Index, a benchmark designed to measure the performance of a variety [...]
When the U.S. financial sector experienced an unprecedented meltdown and set off a global recession, many investor wondered just how far financial stocks would slide. After struggling to find a bottom for nearly two years, many financials ETFs have found their footing since hitting market lows in March, posting solid gains for the year. But [...]
When the financial bomb went off in the fall of 2008, it damaged or destroyed nearly everything in its path. Banking stocks (and banking ETFs) were near the epicenter of the blast, and therefore suffered significant damage. But even within the banking sector, there is a huge discrepancy in the returns generated by various types [...]
Over the past year, the financial sector has been a favorite target of criticisms, frequently accused of outrageous greed that sparked the mortgage meltdown in the U.S., eventually spreading to nearly all corners of the global economy. Moreover, the volatility of financial companies has skyrocketed, perhaps best evidenced by the fact that Direxion’s 3x leveraged Daily [...]
