ETF Database » FCG

ETF Insider: Will Euro Woes Rain On The Bull’s Parade?

Stoyan Bojinov — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:10:57 +0000

Equity markets soared to multi-month highs last week as investors digested encouraging economic data on the home front coupled with positive corporate performance surprises. Wall Street ended the week on a high note after the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%, paving the way for the bulls before Superbowl weekend. Looking forward, with earnings seasons dwindling down to its final releases, investors will need to once again consider the situation in Europe. Greek debt woes have resurfaced early this week as lawmakers overseas continue to struggle to reach a bailout agreement. With no major economic data releases at home this week, investors will likely have to shift their attention back to the debt burdened currency bloc, whether they like it or not. Weekly Outlook The coming week will be filled with central bank meetings and key inflation data releases. Below, we highlight ETFs that may see an increase in trading activity [...]

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Five Compelling Long Term Trends (And ETFs To Play Them)

Michael Johnston — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:00:11 +0000

Over the last several years ETFs have become popular tools for active investors seeking to take advantage of short-term mispricings in the market; the average daily trading volumes on many of the most popular-exchange-traded products clearly indicates that ETFs are widely used by day traders who measure their holding periods in minutes rather than years. Of course, ETFs also continue to be tremendously powerful tools for the set of the market for which they were originally designed: long-term, buy-and-hold investors. For those in it for the long haul, ETFs can represent a way to tap into a compelling investment thesis that is expected to play out over the course of several years or even decades, without conducting company-specific research or taking on considerable company-specific risk [see also 12 High-Yielding Commodities For 2012]. Below, we outline five long-term trends that are expected to play out over the next several decades. While [...]

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Three ETFs For NatGas Act 2011

Jared Cummans — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:00:05 +0000

The debate on our nation’s dependence on oil has been a major issue for quite some time now. Crude oil is a finite resource, and one that we will eventually run out of–though estimates of just how long that will take stretch across the board. But as the largest consumers of crude (roughly 7.3 million barrels per day) in the world, and with 51% of our oil coming from foreign nations, the U.S. will eventually be forced to face its addiction to crude head on. From here, many experts and analysts have their own opinions as to which resource would be the most environmentally friendly and cheapest alternative. While alternative sources of power such as wind and solar energy have been in the works for years, these industries face considerably hurdles still before becoming economically viable. In recent years, natural gas has gained momentum as a viable piece of the [...]

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Natural Gas ETFs: Seven Ways To Play

Michael Johnston — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:30:18 +0000

As more issuers have rushed into the ETF game and waves of cash inflows have contributed to surging asset levels within the industry, investors find themselves with more options than ever before. Once upon a time, exposure to a specific country or sector through ETFs was a binary decision; investors either had it, or they didn’t [use our country lookup tool to find all ETFs with exposure to a specific economy]. Now many corners of the ETF industry offer an impressive level of granularity, with numerous options for tailoring exposure to meet exact specifications. This trend is evident in a corner of the domestic energy market that was largely overlooked until only a few years ago. Natural gas has been a part of most Americans’ lives for some time, but until recently very few viewed it as in investment opportunity. As talk of developing alternatives to foreign oil was intensifying, [...]

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Natural Gas ETFs: Investing In The Fuel Of The Future

Jared Cummans — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:34:36 +0000

If the world’s history of man-made disasters has taught us anything, it is to learn from our mistakes. The 1979 Three Mile Island and 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor incidents put a damper on nuclear power plant construction that the U.S. still has not recovered from. Now, we are faced with the worst environmental disaster in our nation’s history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Over 100 days into the leak, BP claims to be just days away from permanently closing the well, but the leak will ultimately have long term-effect on how our nation views offshore drilling and the oil industry at-large. Many have their focus set on the spill, but few have looked past the leak itself into the future of America’s energy sources. With offshore drilling restrictions likely to go into effect, many will turn to alternate sources of fuel that are more accessible for extraction. Since solar and wind power are [...]

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WCAT: Another Alternative To UNG

Michael Johnston — Wed, 12 May 2010 11:00:12 +0000

When molding their portfolios, some investors seek to identify short-term inefficiencies, tilting holdings towards regions, sectors, or individual stocks that seem poised to outperform in coming days or weeks. Others seek to identify long term, macroeconomic trends that could result in favorable developments for certain asset classes. Countless successful examples of this second strategy have played out historically; investors who successfully identified the impact of Ireland’s low corporate tax rates in the 1990s or the effect of continued urbanization on Chinese markets in the 2000s recorded impressive gains (see The Case For The Ireland ETF). In 2008, investors began identifying another shift in macroeconomic fundamentals; the gradual shift towards clean and abundant energy sources and away from imported oil seemingly made natural gas a “can’t miss” investment pick. As the mainstream media picked up on the potential for a surge in use of natural gas and some high profile and [...]

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UNG vs. FCG: A Better Natural Gas ETF?

Michael Johnston — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:17:33 +0000

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 has become increasingly popular among ETF investors. A number of equity ETFs focusing on stocks of companies engaged in the production or extraction of hard assets have popped up and received a very warm reception from the market. This concept is nothing new–investors have been making bets on changes in oil prices through stocks in the energy sector for ages–but the expansion to nearly every corner of the commodities market is a relatively recent development. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) is the largest ETF in the Commodity Producers Equities ETFdb Category with assets [...]

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Direxion Files For Non-Leveraged ETFs

Michael Johnston — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:43:44 +0000

Direxion, one of the leaders in the rapidly-expanding leveraged ETF space, has filed for approval on 36 new ETFs, including two non-leveraged products. The Direxion Auto Shares would seek to match the performance of the Indus Global Auto & Auto Suppliers Index, a benchmark that consists of approximately 30 companies engaged in the manufacturing, maintenance, or retailing of automobiles. This index is global in nature, and includes companies based in the U.S., Germany, India, Japan, and Sweden. If the proposed auto fund ultimately makes it to market, it would be the first ETF to focus exclusively on the automotive industry, eliminating one of the most glaring holes in the ETF coverage map (see Who Else Wants An Auto ETF?) The company also filed for the Direxion Airline Shares, an ETF that would track the Indus Global Airline & Airline Suppliers Index. This benchmark consists of 30 companies involved in the [...]

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UNG Springs A Leak

Michael Johnston — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:29:37 +0000

Since its launch in April 2007. the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) has endured a strange existence. After enjoying moderate success during its first 18 months–assets stood at more than $700 million at the end of 2008, UNG exploded as the natural gas craze hit and investors lined up for access to the “fuel of the future.” Cash inflows in 2009 topped $5.5 billion, fewer than only three other ETFs. UNG quickly became the third largest exchange-traded commodity product (behind only GLD and SLV) and famously spurred a series of meetings among regulators over the role of ETFs in commodity markets. But in recent months the ultra-popular natural gas ETF has sprung a leak. At the end of March, UNG had assets of just over $2.8 billion, down from $4.6 billion at the end of 2009. The bulk of this decline is attributable to ongoing weakness in natural gas [...]

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Why OOK Is Crushing XLE

Michael Johnston — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:44:45 +0000

Last year saw more than 100 new ETF launches, ranging from the relatively “plain vanilla” to funds offering more targeted and unique exposure. One of the more interesting product launches came late in the year, when Geary Advisors introduced the first state-specific ETF, the Oklahoma Exchange-Traded Fund (OOK). OOK is designed to track the performance of the SPADE Oklahoma Index, a modified market capitalization-weighted benchmark that measures the performance of companies whose corporate headquarters are located in Oklahoma or who maintain significant operations in Oklahoma. Given this objective, it isn’t surprising that the index has a heavy tilt towards the energy industry, as the drilling & exploration, pipelines, oil & gas, and coal sectors make up about 70% of the benchmark. The remainder of exposure is spread across utilities, financials, and consumer companies, giving OOK some level of diversification while maintaining a heavy tilt towards oil and gas companies. Essentially, [...]

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ETF Database » FCG

ETF Insider: Will Euro Woes Rain On The Bull’s Parade?

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Five Compelling Long Term Trends (And ETFs To Play Them)

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Three ETFs For NatGas Act 2011

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Natural Gas ETFs: Seven Ways To Play

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Natural Gas ETFs: Investing In The Fuel Of The Future

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WCAT: Another Alternative To UNG

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UNG vs. FCG: A Better Natural Gas ETF?

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Direxion Files For Non-Leveraged ETFs

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UNG Springs A Leak

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Why OOK Is Crushing XLE

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