As the ETF universe has expanded dramatically over the last several years, many investors have taken advantage of this asset class to tap into international equity markets. With single-country ETFs dedicated to dozens of developed and emerging markets, accessing the major (and not-so-major) stock markets around the globe has never been easier.
When evaluating international equity ETFs–as with all ETFs–it is important to take a look under the hood and fully understand what the portfolio includes. Below, we highlight a few relatively common characteristics of international stock ETFs that might be somewhat disconcerting to investors [for more ETF insights, sign up for the free ETFdb newsletter]: [click to continue…]
Bullish momentum propelled stocks higher last week, although the French credit downgrade drama on Friday was enough to rekindle Euro zone woes and spark a broad-based sell-off before the weekend. Standard & Poor’s credit downgrade of France and Austria sparked volatile trading to start the week across European and Asian markets; investors on Wall Street [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Equity markets were mixed on Tuesday as tensions remain high with investors awaiting for a concrete plan of action from Euro zone leaders. On the home front, U.S. consumer confidence came in better-than-expected, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher by 0.28% for the day, while the Nasdaq lagged behind, shedding 0.47% on the day. [...]
Equity indexes crept up higher since the opening bell at the start of last week, although a grim jobs report on Friday quickly sparked a sell-off, with domestic equities broadly finishing in red territory for the week. The S&P 500 is now back below our outlined support at 1,200 and we advise stepping to the [...]
Equity markets were dangerously volatile last week, extending the ongoing theme of “uncertainty” for yet another week. Domestic equity indexes are largely stuck in “no man’s land”, and until there is some consistent price action above key support levels (above 1,200 for S&P 500), we recommend for most investors to stay on the sidelines. Even [...]
This past week was a surprisingly solid one for markets as a choppy session on Monday gave way to broad strength in Tuesday and Wednesday trading. Markets performed poorly in Thursday and then closed out the week in a volatile session thanks to a release of the GDP report and Ben Bernanke’s annual speech at [...]
Investors were reminded of last week’s chaos after stocks plunged on Thursday as worries about the global economy and European debt woes dominated media headlines. Leading economic indicators grew 0.5% in July, beating analyst estimates, although investors were disappointed after the Federal Bank of Philadelphia reported a sharp drop in factory activity in the region. [...]
U.S. equities finished the week pretty much flat as losses in Monday and Tuesday trading were soon erased by solid performances out of the blue chips later in the week to push the S&P 500 back to roughly breakeven for the five day period. International markets didn’t fare much better on the week, and in [...]
Weekly Recap Last week proved to be quite bumpy for investors, as asset classes from stocks to commodities–and everything in between–swayed between gains and losses for the last several trading days on Wall Street. Volatility was abundant across all markets and domestic equity indexes ended the week relatively flat, much like crude oil and silver [...]
