ETF Database » BAB

Bond ETFs For Every Objective

Michael Johnston — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:00:53 +0000

As the lineup of exchange-traded products has expanded dramatically in recent years, financial advisors have found themselves with more tools at their disposal than ever before. The extreme granularity of many of the equity products out there allows for cheap, low maintenance targeting of specific corners of the investable universe, while the development of some increasingly complex products has opened up strategies that were previously inaccessible. But perhaps the most impressive innovation in recent years has come on the bond side of the market, where the arsenal has expanded considerably over the past two years. Whatever your objective for the fixed income side of client portfolios, odds are there is an ETF that can be used to help you out. Below, we highlight ten common objectives when it comes to managing a bond portfolio–as well as the ETFs that can be used to achieve those goals [for more ETF insights, sign [...]

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Surprising ETF Standouts Of 2011

Michael Johnston — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:57:06 +0000

After a record-setting October gave investors hope that 2011 would finish on a strong note, the first couple weeks of November have effectively taken any wind out of those sails. The culprit–surprise, surprise–has been the cash-strapped PIIGS economies of Europe, with Italy now grabbing the spotlight as a serious credit risk and a grave threat not only to Europe but to global financial markets. And just like that, it appears as if we are heading to dismal end to a generally dismal year for many investors. The asset classes that had powered big recoveries in 2009 and 2010, such as commodities and emerging markets, have largely fallen flat this year. Most major benchmarks are in the red year-to-date, and it’s probably a safe bet that many investors have lost money this year. There are, of course, a few bright spots; certain asset classes always thrive in chaos and others manage [...]

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Build America Bond ETFs: Crushing The Muni Competition

Eric Dutram — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:45:26 +0000

This year has, so far, been a pretty strange period for municipal bond investors. It started off with a dire prediction from Meredith Whitney on the market as she stated her belief that we will see a large amount of defaults in the space in the very near future. “You could see 50 sizable defaults, 50 to 100 sizable defaults, more.” said Meredith in December of last year. “This will amount to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of defaults.” While this prediction has not come true– at least not yet– questions are beginning to pop up regarding the market nonetheless. In fact, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the capital and one of the ten largest cities in the state, recently filed for bankruptcy, although the State is trying to prevent this from happening in order to avoid a wave of defaults. Nevertheless, the situation in the state capital is looking grim; some estimates state that the [...]

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September’s ETF Studs: Five Funds That Thrived During A Wild Month

Michael Johnston — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:34:57 +0000

September was one of the worst months in years for global equity markets. Volatility swept throughout every corner of the financial markets as escalating Euro zone debt woes worried investors of an impending crisis. Investor confidence has been slowly eroding given the concerning global economic outlook, prompting many to pull out of the markets all together. Fear took charge in September as volatile range-bound trading spooked investors, leading to violent sell-offs across all asset classes, especially emerging market stocks. Broad equity indexes were humbled this past month, with SPY down 7.4%, while emerging markets, as tracked by EEM, were down 17.9%. Even safe havens struggled amidst the market turmoil; GLD was down just over 10% on the month [see ETF Insider: Can Earnings Trump Euro Drama?]. While the vast majority of ETFs lost ground in September, a handful of products–beyond inverse and leveraged funds–managed to turn in some impressive gains. [...]

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ETF Insider: Markets Regain Footing

Stoyan Bojinov — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 14:00:57 +0000

Investor worries eased up a bit this past week as concerns over Europe were quelled by the ECB following its most recent decision to keep interest rates unchanged. Wall Street posted an impressive three-day winning streak starting with an impressive, high-volume rally in the final hours of trading on Tuesday. However, stocks couldn’t hold onto gains on Friday, despite better-than-expected employment data. Media legend and Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, passed away last Thursday at the age of 56, leaving behind an iconic consumer brand that has helped shape all of our worlds. Gold prices remain stuck in a trading-range and futures for the precious yellow metal settled just below $1,650 an ounce on Friday. Actionable ETF Trade Ideas Last Week’s Actionable ETF Ideas Ticker Position Performance IYT Short -0.6% IJK Long 0% BAB Long -1.2% Our picks from Monday’s Insider were a mixed bag this week, with two of our [...]

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ETF Insider: Bulls Back For Good?

Stoyan Bojinov — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:57:55 +0000

Wall Street started the week on a fairly weak note as investor worries regarding the health of the Euro zone resurfaced over the weekend. Equity indexes plunged further on Tuesday, although the bulls came charging to the rescue in the last hour of trading, sparking a strong, heavy-volume rally to end the trading session. Volatility looms in the background as investor confidence has not yet been fully restored thanks to European debt-woes dominating news headlines. Gold prices remain range-bound, although the precious metal is holding support above $1,600 an ounce and appears poised for a rebound in the coming days. Checking In: Trading Ideas This week, our technical trading ideas included long/short recommendations in two popular domestic sector funds, while our third fundamental pick focused on one of the best performing corners of the bond market this year. Below, we highlight how our trade recommendations from Monday’s Insider have been [...]

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ETF Insider: Greece Flirts With Default

Stoyan Bojinov — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:33:13 +0000

Wall Street posted yet another up-down week of performance as domestic equity indexes fluctuated and ultimately fell victim to serious profit taking as the final trading session drew to a close. Worse-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence coupled with a decline in personal income were concerning data releases that only added to the piling uncertainty weighting down on stocks. Gold wasn’t much of a safe haven last week as the precious metal found it hard to rise back above $1,700 an ounce, and drew lower as the week went on, managing to settle just below the $1,650 mark on Friday. We anticipate for market volatility to remain high in the coming week as investors await guidance from European lawmakers as they compromise on a plan of action to aid Greece. Weekly Outlook The coming week is fairly busy with major economic releases on the international front, including several central bank meetings taking [...]

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Using ETFs To Build A Complete Bond Portfolio

Michael Johnston — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:00:05 +0000

In recent years, ETFs have become increasing popular tools for accessing the fixed income corner of the market. The space initially grew much more slowly than equity ETFs, but investors have gradually become more comfortable with the combination of fixed income exposure and the exchange-traded structure. Innovation in the bond ETF space has been impressive in recent years; a number of first-to-market products have popped up that allow for precise access to various corners of the global bond universe. Among the most popular bond ETFs are two products in the Total Bond Market ETFdb Category: AGG and BND. These ETFs have aggregate assets of more than $20 billion and individually trade close to one million shares daily. Both AGG and BND are linked to the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad-based benchmark that covers the investment grade U.S. bond market. For many investors, an allocation to one of [...]

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Five ETFs To Watch If Meredith Whitney Is Right

Michael Johnston — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:00:04 +0000

According to the ancient Mayan calendar, the world will end in December 2012. If banking analyst Meredith Whitney is right, the beginning of the end might be around the corner. Whitney, who rose to prominence after a pessimistic report on Citigroup issued in late 2007 later proved to be painfully accurate, has been zeroed in on the municipal bond sector for some time now as the next market to enter into a freefall. She first turned heads last year when predicting that between 50 and 100 local governments could default on obligations worth hundreds of billions of dollars–a collapse that would almost certainly be felt throughout global financial markets. That breakdown in muni bond markets so far hasn’t materialized; default rates have been in line with historical averages, and investors who held on to these securities have been rewarded with relatively strong performances. But Whitney hasn’t backed down from her [...]

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Looking For Juicy Yields? Try Muni Bond ETFs

Michael Johnston — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:00:12 +0000

When the Federal Reserve slashed the federal funds target rate to a range of 0.0% to 0.25% in late 2008, most expected that the drastic measure would be temporary, and that interest rates would gradually climb higher. But nearly two years later, the U.S. economy continues to languish as job creation has failed to materialize and the debt burden continues to grow. With interest rates expected to remain near record lows for the foreseeable future, many investors who depend on their portfolios to deliver a current return have been forced to get creative in their hunt for attractive yield. For some that search has lead to junk bonds or debt of emerging market issuers, two asset classes that offer relatively attractive coupons in the current environment. Others have embraced high-yielding equities as a solution, pouring money into MLP ETNs dividend-weighted ETFs. And given the events of the last several weeks, [...]

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ETF Database » BAB

Bond ETFs For Every Objective

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Surprising ETF Standouts Of 2011

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Build America Bond ETFs: Crushing The Muni Competition

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September’s ETF Studs: Five Funds That Thrived During A Wild Month

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ETF Insider: Markets Regain Footing

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ETF Insider: Bulls Back For Good?

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ETF Insider: Greece Flirts With Default

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Using ETFs To Build A Complete Bond Portfolio

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Five ETFs To Watch If Meredith Whitney Is Right

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Looking For Juicy Yields? Try Muni Bond ETFs

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