For most investors, 2011 was a frustrating year; after some strong early gains seemingly pointed to a continuation of the recovery that took root in 2010, the appearance of some major obstacles sent many major indexes back towards negative territory. The impressive late December rally closed the year on a high note, but there is no doubt room for improvement in 2012 as many attempt to return their portfolios to pre-recession valuations.
The continued innovation and growth in the ETF industry in 2011 has given investors more tools in the toolkit than ever before, and it has made easier to maintain portfolios of all degrees of sophistication using only exchange-traded products. For those looking to take more control over their portfolios in the new year, we highlight ten tips that can enhance your ETF experience and help you get the most out of the robust lineup of exchange-traded products [sign up for a free 7-day trial of ETFdb Pro to get access to more than 30 all-ETF model portfolios]: [click to continue…]
Traders sprang into risk-aversion mode as the Italian bond auction overseas rekindled worries and sparked a sell-off on Wall Street, ending the five day bull-run for domestic equity indexes. “A good test of the appetite for Italian debt will be tomorrow’s bond sales that have maturities past three years,” said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at [...]
This time last year, investors were generally thrilled with the performances of their portfolios, which had continued to bounce back nicely from the devastating recession that hit in 2008. Unfortunately, few are feeling the same sense of accomplishment as 2011 draws to a close; this year has been frustrating in that a few large, swift [...]
One of the founding principles of the ETF industry was cost competitiveness; after being charged upwards of 150 basis points for their favorite mutual funds, investors had grown tired of surrendering a substantial portion of their gains to the managers of big name funds. Now, there are ETFs that charge as low as 5 basis [...]
Euphoria was quick to evaporate from the markets last week as investors fretted over ongoing uncertainty in the Euro zone. Selling pressures prevailed across equity markets as lawmakers have yet to outline a comprehensive plan of action for restoring stability to the debt burdened currency bloc. Gold futures tanked as investors took profits in the [...]
Equity markets extended losses yet again as Euro zone fears dictated selling pressures on Wednesday. The Nasdaq led the way lower, sinking 1.55% on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was a bit more resilient, giving up 1.10%. Investors gave into fear as Italy’s borrowing costs surged to a recent all-time high, while [...]
U.S. ETF assets declined slightly in November according to the latest data from the National Stock Exchange, as the rapidly-growing industry experienced net outflows amidst a general flight from both domestic and international equities. The industry finished last month with $1.06 trillion in net assets, down about 2% from the previous month but up 12% [...]
With over 1,400 exchange-traded products on the market, investors have likely run into some seemingly “duplicate” offerings. While many of the “plain vanilla” products have quite a bit in common, there are more than a handful of funds which offer seemingly identical exposure, although a closer look under the hood reveals some noteworthy surprises [see [...]
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 [...]
UBS, the issuer behind one of the broadest lineups of ETNs available to U.S. investors, continued the aggressive expansion of its product lineup this week with the introduction of two unique offerings. The company rolled out a pair of blunt instruments designed to be used in high level “risk on / risk off” trades, a [...]
Financial advisors and individual investors who have embraced ETFs are generally painted as a cost conscious crowd, passing over expensive active mutual funds in favor of cheap indexing strategies. In general ETFs are considerably cheaper than mutual funds, thanks not only to the indexing strategy but also to the more efficient exchange-traded structure. But not [...]
