This past week was chock full of data on the home front, as the U.S. poured on a number of key economic reports with the majority coming in positive. Despite a sell off on Friday, major indexes still covered some ground this week, as Tuesday saw the Dow close above 13,000 for the first time in years, sparking a bit of investor confidence across the board. The coming week will be equally as busy, but this time the focus will be on international markets, as a number of countries around the world will be releasing major economic indicators. Below, we outline three ETFs to keep a close eye on as this first full week of March unfolds [see also Tax Reform And Dividend ETFs: Cause For Concern?].
Most investors looking to generate alpha and accumulate wealth over the long term spend the bulk of their time determining which asset classes should be included in their portfolio, either as long-term building blocks or shorter-term tactical allocations. But sometimes the most effective means of generating excess returns is not identifying and overweighting the top [...]
ETF investing has surged in recent years as the industry has experienced exponential growth in nearly all aspects of the universe. Now, there are over 1,400 products with more than $1 trillion in combined assets to offer exposure to just about every corner of the market an investor could ever want. But while these products [...]
It is no secret that the ETF industry is dominated by just a handful of products. The majority of the $1 trillion plus assets are confined to roughly 100 funds, leaving the other 1,300 ETFs in the dust. But as growth in the industry continues to pick up, more and more funds are entering elite [...]
The ETF industry finished 2011 with assets of about $1.06 trillion according to data recently released by the ETF Industry Association. Total assets grew by about 5% over the previous year, when the industry stood at $1.01 trillion. Net cash inflows for the year totaled about $117.6 billion, a slight decrease from 2010 when the [...]
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 [...]
As the calendars prepare to flip forward, it appears as if 2011 will go down as a record-breaking year for the ETF industry on the product development front. More than 300 new ETPs began trading this year, shattering the previous record set in 2010. But despite the record size of the ETF lineup, it appears [...]
This time last year, investors were generally thrilled with the performances of their portfolios, which had continued to bounce back nicely from the devastating recession that hit in 2008. Unfortunately, few are feeling the same sense of accomplishment as 2011 draws to a close; this year has been frustrating in that a few large, swift [...]
This past year has been a strong one for the ETF industry. With a record number of launches, already over 300 on the year, it is clear that the exchange traded world is still in full swing. But despite all of the innovation that the year has seen, investors are still partial to their big [...]
Today brought welcomed news to markets as the euro zone was able to reach an agreement on a budget deal. U.S. markets enjoyed strong days as a result, with the Dow jumping by 186 points, the NASDAQ jumping by 1.9%, and the S&P 500 enjoying a 1.7% gain on the day. The biggest winner came [...]
With the finish line in sight, it’s fairly safe to say that 2011 will be remembered by most investors as a wild, back-and-forth year that brought plenty of both hope and despair. A hot start raised optimism of a continued recovery after a generally impressive 2011, but the summer months were anything but relaxing; major [...]
