Job creation–or the lack thereof–has taken center stage throughout much of the developed world, emerging as one of the most substantial hurdles to economic growth and potential catalysts of a double dip recession. The jobs situation in the U.S. is shaping up to be the central issue in the next presidential election, sticking out as a critical failure of the current administration and hot topic in recent debates.
The stubbornly high unemployment rate in the U.S. is hardly abnormal in the current environment, especially among developed markets. In Spain more than 21% of the labor force is unemployed, and the youth unemployment rate has been reported to be close to twice that level. Greece and Ireland are among the other euro zone members that have seen unemployment rates skyrocket over the last couple of years, depressing equity markets and battering consumer confidence. [click to continue…]
The latest round of new product launches has pushed the total for the ETF total to 1,300, close to twice the number of products trading just a couple of years ago. But if the activity behind the scenes is any indication, the growth spurt is far from over. Multiple issuers continue to stuff the product [...]
Van Eck, the issuer behind a number of country-specific emerging markets ETFs, recently laid the groundwork to launch what would be the industry’s first Mongolia ETF. In an SEC filing last week, the company outlined an ETF that would seek to replicate a to-be-determined index that would consist of companies domiciled and primarily listed on [...]
Global X rolled out the latest addition to its rapidly-expanding ETF lineup on Thursday, launching the FTSE ASEAN 40 ETF (ASEA). The new fund seeks to replicate the FTSE/ASEAN 40 Index, a benchmark that is made up of the largest companies in the original five ASEAN countries: Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. ASEA is [...]
Soaring food prices across much of the developing world has led to a difficult situation for many central bankers in emerging markets. They are torn between raising rates to curb inflation but also potentially choking off further growth in their economies. One nation facing this issue is Vietnam where the average lending rate is roughly [...]
With 2011 just around the corner, this year is shaping up to be a relatively strong one for global equity markets. While the U.S. and much of Europe have turned in modest gains so far, it is the developing world that has been the primary driver of a continued economic recovery. And the year’s best [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
A recent wave of strikes and suicides across numerous manufacturing centers in China has brought increased scrutiny to the Chinese labor force. Makers of many well-known products have been forced to sharply increase wages and improve working conditions in order to placate the migrant workers in China who moved from impoverished rural areas to the [...]
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 [...]
Van Eck announced today plans to reduce the expense caps on three of its international equity ETFs, effective immediately. The three ETFs that will be impacted include:
