Inflation has been a particularly frustrating topic in recent months. Despite widespread predictions for a surge in CPI in the wake of unprecedented injections of liquidity into global financial markets, upward pressure on prices has not yet materialized–at least not in many developed markets. The prospect of what seems to be an inevitable outcome has prompted many to take measures to protect their portfolios, increasing allocations to asset classes expected to generally perform well when inflationary pressures spike. Countless investors have been wrong in their calls on inflation, ranging from Wall Street titans such as Morgan Stanley to smaller money managers and individuals. [click to continue…]
While reports of jobless rates in the U.S. or the pace of inflation in China occasionally pop to the top of the headlines, the last several months have seen the spotlight focused on European markets as the continent continues to battle a debt crisis that has threatened to derail a fragile economic recovery. While the [...]
So far, 2011 has been a pretty good time to be a commodity producer, as most natural resource firms have risen substantially to start the year. While some sectors of the market, such as rare earth metals and agribusiness, have posted impressive gains, the two funds representing the timber industry have been quietly among the leaders through the first four [...]
With the finish line in sight, 2010 has been a generally solid year for commodities as an asset class; strong demand from emerging markets, a shaky dollar, fears about inflation, and a number of supply issues have conspired to send prices of everything from corn to gold to sugar skyward [see Top Five Commodity ETFs [...]
It’s baaaaaaaack. After a brief hiatus that saw investors rushing to determine the best ways to battle deflation, inflationary concerns have begun to surface again. The cause of the latest bout of inflationary anxiety is of course the QE2 program recently announced by the Federal Reserve that calls for the purchase of hundreds of billions [...]
The last several months have provided an abundance of conflicting economic indicators. A stellar earnings season and surge in M&A activity gave investors hope that corporate profits were on the rebound. But stubbornly high unemployment and sagging consumer confidence have remained as major roadblocks to prolonged growth. With U.S. markets treading water recently, many investors [...]
One of the hottest segments of the ETF industry is the commodity space, which has exploded in recent years as investors have embraced exchange-traded products as a means of reaching an asset class that offers potentially valuable diversification benefits. While most commodity products are physically-backed or futures-based funds, an alternative means of gaining commodity exposure [...]
It’s difficult to put a finger on the exact cause of the recent surge in popularity of commodity investing. More than likely, the boom is attributable to a number of different factors. Correlation between international equity markets (and even between stocks and bonds) has surged in recent years, increasing both the importance and difficulty of [...]
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 [...]
Michael Johnston, senior analyst at ETF Database, appeared on live television this morning to discuss a few ETFs that would serve as possible hedges against inflation, including: WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency Fund (CEW) IndexIQ CPI Inflation Hedged ETF (CPI) Claymore/Clear Global Timber Fund (CUT) Market Vectors TR Gold Miners Fund (GDX) IndexIQ ARB Global Resources [...]
Over the last year, U.S. equity markets have staged a remarkable recovery as volatility has plummeted and the emergency stimulus measures implemented amidst heated debate appear to have had their intended effect. Indications that unemployment may be close to peaking and that consumer confidence is on the rise once again only add fuel to the [...]
