Equity markets continued their trek higher last week as encouraging economic data is a key driver of price action now that Euro zone woes have finally taken a backseat. In light of the positive fundamental improvements on the home front, this week is looking to be fairly uneventful in terms of major data releases aside from home sales figures. News from international markets also appear to be sparse in the coming days, which makes the trading week all the more unpredictable; will bullish momentum finally cool off or is any pullback a buying opportunity?
With more than 40% of the U.S. market, iShares has long been the leader in the U.S. ETF industry. But in recent years the competition has been gaining ground, thanks in part to more cost efficient products. According to the ETF Industry Association, Vanguard led all ETF issuers with almost $36 billion in cash inflows [...]
After recently becoming the first issuer to list products on the BATS Exchange, iShares followed up with six more international equity products on Thursday. Three of the ETFs that began trading are the first of their kind, offering exposure to asset classes not previously accessible in the ETF wrapper:
iShares, the ETF market leader in the U.S. with more than 200 individual funds across virtually every asset class, will notch another first for the industry later this month when it becomes the first ETF provider to list products on the BATS Exchange. January 24 will mark the first day of trading for eight new [...]
iShares has made another round of additions to its ETF lineup of well more than 200 products, debuting funds that target small cap stocks in Hong Kong and Singapore. The company also debuted an ETF linked to the MSCI World Index, a broad benchmark of stocks in developed markets:
For most investors, 2011 was a frustrating year; after some strong early gains seemingly pointed to a continuation of the recovery that took root in 2010, the appearance of some major obstacles sent many major indexes back towards negative territory. The impressive late December rally closed the year on a high note, but there is [...]
For many investors, 2011 was an up-and-down year; risky assets came racing out of the gates, but a string of negative developments erased all of the early gains during a chaotic summer. Heading in to 2012, the outlook is mixed; there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future, as well as some [...]
A growing number of financial advisors are using exchange-traded funds to achieve international equity exposure for their clients, embracing funds that offer access to both developed and international market beyond the U.S. This should hardly be surprising; the exchange-traded structure delivers an efficient way to tap into an asset class that should be at the [...]
Investors were left empty handed before the Thanksgiving Holiday; the Euro drama theme dominated financial markets last week as ongoing debt woes stemming from overseas overshadowed a host of positive economic data releases on the home front, including a surprise to the upside in durable goods orders. We anticipate for the spotlight to remain fixated [...]
Since the ETF industry was conceived close to two decades ago, innovation has been a hallmark of this rapidly-expanding corner of the investing landscape. Thanks to a unique structure that allows for liquidity, transparency, and tax efficiency, ETFs have quickly and consistently taken market share from other types of securities, bringing newfound flexibility to all [...]
The saying “never judge a book by its cover” is certainly applicable to a wide range of situations. That includes the business of investing; for advisors and individuals who use ETFs, the old adage can be very relevant, valuable advice. There are now more than 1,300 exchange-traded products now available to U.S. investors, and that [...]
