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ETFdb Category Kings: Best Performers From First Half Of 2011

Michael Johnston — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:00:40 +0000

The first half of 2011 is officially in the books, and many investors find their portfolios in approximately the same place as they were to start the year (though a furious rally in the final week of the quarter gave a nice boost at an opportune moment). Most major equity indexes are up slightly on the year, while fixed income benchmarks have similarly hovered around breakeven. Beyond these broad generalizations, there are some significant performance discrepancies among exchange-traded products that may seem to offer up similar risk/return profiles. The following tables highlight the top performers from every ETFdb Category during the first six months of the year, shedding some light on the asset classes that have struggled and thrived so far in 2011–and reinforcing that the seemingly minor distinctions between ETPs can lead to big differences in performance [for monthly updates on the best performers, sign up for the free [...]

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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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Look Out Below! Muni Bond ETFs In Freefall

Eric Dutram — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:14:19 +0000

After witnessing an impressive run-up through the first three quarters of the year, more and more investors are now expressing concern over a bubble in bond markets. Reaction to the recent announcement of another round of QE has skewed towards the negative, as economists both in the U.S. and around the globe have predicted that the Fed’s most recent initiative will only dig a deeper hole. Much of the attention has focused on Treasury markets, where the Fed has become increasingly active and where concerns over paltry yields have sparked sell-offs in recent weeks. While the turmoil in Treasury markets has been at the focus of speculation over a bond bubble, the recent tumble in the municipal bond market deserves some attention as well. This often-overlooked class of the bond market has long been a portfolio staple for current income-focused investors in high marginal tax brackets seeking to shield assets [...]

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Daily ETF Roundup: CMF Sinks, DBA Soars

Eric Dutram — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:10:34 +0000

U.S. equity markets surged to start the week, as solid retail sales helped to boost optimism in the markets early in Monday trading. However, stocks eventually slumped and finished the day close to breakeven, as the Dow managed to gain just 0.1% while the S&P 500 lost 0.1% and the Nasdaq fell by 0.2%. Commodity markets were also mixed as gold slumped by $10/oz. and oil finished the day lower by 0.4%. Softs and grains managed to rebound as corn pulled ahead by 3.8% and sugar jumped higher by 3.1%. The big news was in the Treasury markets where yields continued their ascent higher despite the implementation of QE2; 10 Year Yields surged by 0.14% up to 2.92% while seven and five year debt yields moved higher by 0.14% and 0.17%, respectively. Today’s rocky session came at the hands of somewhat positive data showing that U.S. retail sales rose 1.2% [...]

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2010: Year Of The Bond ETF

Jared Cummans — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:00:52 +0000

After lingering in the background of the ETF industry for the last several years, fixed income funds have stepped up in recent months to become one of the primary drivers of growth. Through the first seven months of 2010, cash inflows to ETFs totaled $49 billion. Of this amount, more than $23 billion has been attributable to fixed income ETFs, reflecting that investors have become increasingly comfortable with the idea of achieving their fixed income exposure within the ETF wrapper. The movement to bonds has also come at a time when equity market uncertainty and volatility has surged. With uncertain prospects for economic growth, the safe haven of fixed income securities has new appeal; it’s not uncommon now for even the most risk tolerant investors to have bond allocations approaching 50%. Tremendous innovation in the fixed income ETF space has given investors more options than ever before. Once upon a [...]

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Three ETFs To Protect Against Rising Taxes

Eric Dutram — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:04:36 +0000

Massive budget deficits brought on by years of reckless spending and low taxes have put many cash-strapped nations such as Greece and Spain in impossible positions. These countries now find themselves searching for ways to cut fat from their bloated budgets and get their fiscal houses in order and avoid the financial devastation that comes along with a sovereign debt default. While austerity measures have been held out as a vital component of the solution to these fiscal woes, many debt-laden European countries have found it difficult to cut social spending for political reasons. As such, tax hikes are popping up throughout the world, as governments desperate to reel in deficits have begun pulling out all the stops. With a budget deficit quickly approaching 11%, the United States appears to be heading towards some difficult decisions. As demonstrated by many state governments as of late, a number of spending programs [...]

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Muni Bond ETFs: New York vs. California

Michael Johnston — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:42:01 +0000

With interest rates near record lows and expected to remain there for the foreseeable future, many investors have begun searching for alternatives to Treasuries that offer more attractive yields (see Five Bond ETFs For Yield-Hungry Investors). Junk bonds and closed-end funds have been popular choices, but some investors in higher tax brackets have embraced municipal bonds for their potential tax efficiencies; the interest payments on these bonds are exempt from federal taxes (and in many cases state taxes as well). More and more investors are utilizing ETFs to achieve exposure to municipal bonds. There are now more than 20 municipal bond ETFs with more than $6 billion in aggregate assets, a remarkable increase from just one year ago. The majority of these assets are in ETFs that maintain exposure to a basket of securities issued by governments across the country. But there are also a handful of funds that focus [...]

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California Muni ETFs: Value Play Or Sucker’s Bet?

Michael Johnston — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:21:21 +0000

Perhaps no area in the U.S. (with the possible exception of Michigan) has felt the pinch of the recession worse than the Golden State. California, the most populous state (home to eight of the country’s 50 largest cities) and third-largest by land area, has seen tax revenues plummet and unemployment skyrocket over the past 18 months, pushing the state to the brink of default. As California has fallen on hard times, many investors are taking a close look at ETFs that invest in municipal bonds issued by California agencies, attempting to track down an answer to the the million dollar question: are California Munis now a good value play, or simply a sucker’s bet? California’s fall from grace has been a steep one. The state that was once home to the world’s seventh largest GDP has been reduced to issuing IOUs to vendors whom it doesn’t have the funds to [...]

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ETF Database » CMF

ETFdb Category Kings: Best Performers From First Half Of 2011

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