AdvisorShares, one of the largest issuers of actively-managed ETFs, has forged a partnership to bring an active sector rotation ETF to market. The new Rockledge SectorSAM ETF (SSAM), which began trading Thursday, will seek to generate stable and consistent returns in all market conditions, developing a dollar neutral portfolio comprised of sector ETFs. The new ETF will utilize the Sector Scoring and Allocation Methodology (“SSAM”), a technique based on a proprietary quantitative analysis model that forecasts the projected returns to various sectors of the U.S. economy. The ETF will establish long positions in sector ETFs that are expected to outperform the S&P 500 and short positions in those that are expected to underperform that benchmark. [click to continue…]
Equity markets hit the ground running last week as investors came back from the holiday weekend with a fairly optimistic outlook for 2012. U.S. stocks started off the year with a solid rally as investors’ confidence was bolstered by multiple better-than-expected economic data reports; consistent improvements in the housing market coupled with a downtick in [...]
Stock markets rebounded higher on Thursday as investors rejoiced over better-than-expected employment data on the home front. U.S. jobless claims fell to 364,000, marking the lowest number of people applying for unemployment benefits since April 2008. Bullish momentum on Wall Street was further bolstered by improving consumer sentiment, which also topped analyst expectations. Gold futures [...]
Resurfacing Italian debt woes paved the way for persistent volatility in the markets last week, further deteriorating the economic outlook of the financially fragile currency bloc. Selling pressures overwhelmed the bulls on Wall Street, despite a host of better-than-expected economic data releases on the home front, including surprisingly strong retail sales, new home starts, industrial [...]
Direxion laid the groundwork for several new products in a recent SEC proposal, including a handful of sector ETFs as well as an international equity offering. The Boston based issuer detailed plans to potentially ramp up its product lineup with four new 3x leveraged bull-bear pair ETFs. Triple-exposure products are the bread and butter of [...]
Domestic equity indexes finally slipped lower yesterday following a solid three-day rise. Stocks were hit as investors worries over the Euro zone resurfaced, consequently sparking a rally in the gold market. Futures prices for the yellow metal soared over $30, managing to close just around resistance levels at the $1,700 an ounce mark. Industry giants [...]
Domestic equity equity indexes struggled near technical resistance levels all of last week, however, the bulls prevailed on Friday. The S&P 500 Index opened and closes every single day above the key resistance level at 1,200; quite a technical feat, given that it failed to break this this level three times in the past three [...]
As the European debt crisis goes on the back-burner thanks to hopes for a new bailout package, focus is beginning to shift back to the United States and our own economic problems. Unemployment remains intolerably high and more stimulus doesn’t appear to be coming from either a monetary or fiscal route, leaving hard data as the only catalyst [...]
After a bloody start last week, investors were far more cheerful to come back this time around as equity indexes broadly rose yesterday, posting the third day of gains following one of the wildest weeks on Wall Street. Stocks opened higher on Monday morning as investor optimism got a bit of a (much needed) boost [...]
Although both chambers of Congress passed the debt ceiling increase, markets plunged across the board as investors feared a new age of austerity and sluggish growth in the U.S. market. The Dow finished the day lower by 266 points while the broader indexes experienced heavier losses as the S&P 500 fell by 2.6% and the [...]
Investors went along for a downhill ride last week as debt woes plagued Wall Street, sending the S&P 500 lower by nearly 4% for the week. Corporate earnings were mostly surprises to the upside, but equities failed to stage a meaningful comeback since investors were more concerned with the debt ceiling drama at home. As [...]
