Over the last several years, crude oil prices have taken investors on a wild ride. When the global economy was humming along, prices skyrocketed to a historic high of more than $140 per barrel. But from that peak, the downfall was both swift and severe; prices plummeted to almost $30 a barrel as economies around the world entered into a recession. From there prices surged again, more than doubling as markets recovered in the second half of 2009. [click to continue…]
With the U.S. dollar soaring as of late on a wave of risk aversion, most commodities, which are usually priced in greenbacks, have suffered greatly as rising local prices have curtailed international demand. This is reflected in the recent performance of the PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA), the largest and most liquid ETF in the [...]
In recent weeks markets have encountered turmoil with prospects for growth around the world being slashed as debt issues in Europe weigh on investors. As investors continue to flee the euro, many are flocking towards the relative safety of the U.S. dollar, further driving up the greenback and dragging down commodity prices. In addition to [...]
Exchange-traded commodity products have been embraced by investors eager to add an asset class to their portfolio that has historically exhibited a low correlation to stocks and bonds. Commodity ETPs saw more than $30 billion in cash inflows last year as both funds targeting diversified baskets of resources and commodity-specific funds surged in popularity.
The surge in popularity of ETFs is often credited with bringing buy-and-hold investors a cost-efficient alternative to traditional actively-managed mutual funds. But ETFs are also responsible for bringing several asset classes previously available only to the largest and most sophisticated individuals and institutions within reach of investors on all levels. While this “democratization” of investing [...]
Whenever a company prepares for a public offering, executives have been known to spend an inordinate amount of time choosing the combination of letters that will serve as the company’s ticker and often nickname within the investment community. To many, the fixation on selecting the perfect ticker seems like an irrational obsession on par with [...]
Following the massive injections into capital markets in recent years, inflation has become a major concern of many investors, and the quest to uncover assets that offer portfolio protection against a potential uptick in the CPI has taken on many forms. While inflation-protected bonds are the instrument of choice for some, others have turned their [...]
For most investors, 2009 has been a very good year, with a surge in liquidity leading almost all asset classes to big gains. As many national economies emerged from recession, investors regained their appetite for risk, sending emerging markets funds through the rook (these funds dominated the list of the Top Ten Performing Equity ETFs). [...]
As U.S. equity markets have soared in recent months, the dollar has steadily declined against most of its major rivals, recently falling below the key $1.50 level against the euro for the first time since August of last year. This extended fall has investors wondering if the dollar’s decline reflects temporary volatility, or a long-term [...]
Over the last year, swine flu has been the news story that just won’t die. After an early initial scare, H1N1 faded into the background of the minds of many for several months, before returning in full force as flu season approached. Of course, the threat posed by the disease never really diminished, and health [...]
Sugar ETFs have continued their “almost vertical trajectory” in recent weeks, soaring higher on news that several major food producers sent a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture exclaiming that the U.S. could “virtually run out of sugar” if import restrictions on the sweetener aren’t lifted. Currently, quotas limit the amount of sugar U.S. companies [...]
