With snow now blanketing a big part of the country and 2012 just a few weeks away, looking back at the past year becomes a popular activity. For many portfolios, 2011 has been marked by big swings that seem to be leaving investors right about where they started; there has been plenty of activity over the last 11 months, but little to show for it in way of returns.
Like many others, we put forth a list of actionable ETF ideas that we believed were positioned to perform well in 2011 at the end of last year, laying out the investment thesis behind 11 exchange-traded products that we thought would thrive this year. With 2011 coming to a close, it’s time to take a look back at our predictions for this year, noting some big wins and lamenting a few calls [see 11 Rapid Fire ETF Ideas For 2011]: [click to continue…]
Better late than never. E*TRADE, the online brokerage that is perhaps best known for its commercials starring infant trading whizzes, has begun offering commission free trading on a lineup of exchange-traded funds. ETFs issued by Global X, WisdomTree, and db-X (Deutsche Bank) will be eligible for commission free trading on the E*Trade platform. That lineup [...]
The last few weeks have been a rocky stretch for the financial sector in the U.S., with another massive bankruptcy filing coming as negative sentiment towards big financial institutions is reaching new heights. After a stellar month in October, a wave of risk aversion in November has dealt a blow to the financial sector, with [...]
Over the past few years it has become increasingly clear that China is now the most important economy in the world. Though second to the U.S. in total size, China accounts directly for a significant portion of global GDP growth and has contributed indirectly to expansion in developed and emerging markets around the globe–particularly resource [...]
The month of May was a generally disappointing stretch for investors, as both international and domestic equity markets struggled to overcome obstacles new and old. Commodities, which had been a nice source of absolute returns for much of the last year, fell on hard times as well; precious metals went into a brief freefall, and [...]
Last week saw the end of a year that was relatively kind to investor portfolios, as most major asset classes managed to post strong results in 2010. As the calendars flip to 2011, the outlook remains uncertain; lingering obstacles in the form of high unemployment and bloated debt loads certainly pose problems, but rapidly-expanding emerging [...]
Once upon a time, exposure to the Chinese stock market was a binary decision for U.S. investors–they either had it or they didn’t. Thanks in part to increased flexibility in cross-border listings and in part to the proliferation of exchange-traded funds, investors now have countless options for exposure to the world’s second largest economy.
The impact of the recent global economic slowdown was first felt by consumers around the world who were forced to cut back on purchases in order to endure the recession. While some consumer segments such as the wealthy, have begun to spend again, the events of the last two years have also had a profound, [...]
Most investors were happy to see the calendars turn to June and put a dismal month of May in the rear view mirror. Global equity markets took their cues from Europe for most of the month, as anxiety over the impact of sovereign debt woes on global growth dominated financial headlines and caused a wave [...]
Traditionally, investments in emerging markets such as India and China have been viewed as riskier than investments in developed economies. Part of this perceived additional risk is related to less developed financial markets and regulatory oversight; the lack of standardized reporting and robust audit requirements and restrictions on repatriation of assets creates the potential for [...]
A week that saw many equity benchmarks hit 18-month highs closed on a relatively quiet note, as investors became less worried about Greece’s financial woes and shrugged off a downward revision to fourth quarter GDP growth. Elsewhere, the South Korea ETF closed lower after an explosion an a navy vessel near the North Korean maritime [...]
