Though the year is still very young, 2012 has gotten off to a promising start for investors. Major stock indexes have generally climbed higher throughout the first few weeks thanks to a number of encouraging data releases and reduced anxiety over the potential fallout from the European debt crisis [see also Early ETF Stars of 2012].
The second half of last year saw a flight among investors to safer securities, including utilities and dividend stocks. But as expected volatility continues to drop and momentum continues to build, many are likely looking for opportunities to dial up exposure to risky assets that generally experience greater volatility on the upside as well. [click to continue…]
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 [...]
Equity indexes started the week with a bang as bullish sentiment swept over Wall Street thanks to news of European leaders making progress in the right direction, along with a stellar start to the holiday shopping season at home. The Nasdaq led the way higher, gaining 3.52% on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial [...]
Stocks got off to a solid start this week as Wall Street took a bullish cue from European markets and rose on optimism that lawmakers would soon finalize a “plan of action” for Greece. Domestic equity indexes all finished in green territory on Monday, although trading was a bit choppy in the morning hours. The [...]
Although European events continue to dominate the financial headlines, American concerns are never too far removed from the front pages as the U.S. economy continues to sputter. Recent readings in the ISM index suggest that the economy is slowing down and may be approaching contraction levels by some measures, while the release of the Fed’s [...]
As we make our way into September, investors are trying their best to pretend that August never happened. After last month saw a number of crushing blows to the economy, including a downgrade of U.S. debts and a two-year freeze on interest rates from the Fed, many ran for the hills as fears of a [...]
Equity markets were dangerously volatile last week, extending the ongoing theme of “uncertainty” for yet another week. Domestic equity indexes are largely stuck in “no man’s land”, and until there is some consistent price action above key support levels (above 1,200 for S&P 500), we recommend for most investors to stay on the sidelines. Even [...]
Sector rotation techniques have been around for decades, a relatively simple strategy often used by investors seeking to capitalize on short-term mispricings in order to generate alpha. In its most basic form, sector rotation involves segmenting the equity universe by industry, and moving into and out of various sectors depending on relative attractiveness from a [...]
Although the stock market continues to rise modestly in light of bad geopolitical news and high commodity prices, the good news in equities has failed to trickle into real job creation as unemployment remains stubbornly high across much of the nation. While jobs remain hard to come by, some recent data points could help to [...]
With U.S. equity markets experiencing something of a September surge thanks to solid data points and moderating fears over the global economic situation, many investors have temporarily set aside their fears over a continued slowdown and have bought up a variety of equities. While many have ridden the stock wave in recent weeks, the economy [...]
Despite a rocky start, U.S. equity markets ended the day higher on Thursday ahead of tomorrow’s crucial jobs report. While the Dow only reported a modest gain of 0.5%, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq soared higher by 0.9% and 1.0%, respectively. Today was also an eventful day for commodities, as gold continued its surge [...]
