When domestic and international equity markets tumbled in the first three months of this year, bargain hunters were overwhelmed with possibilities. As price-to-earnings ratios plunged into the single digits, those who follow the Buffett mantra “be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” were presented with one of the best buying opportunities in recent memory. But since March, equity markets have staged impressive recoveries, making good values hard to come by. [click to continue…]
Index compiler MSCI Barra announced earlier this week that Israel will be reclassified from Emerging market status to Developed market status, forcing some of the largest ETFs on the market to do some rebalancing in the coming months. Israel will be removed from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the MSCI EMEMEA Index, which includes emerging markets in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The MSCI Israel Index will now be included in the MSCI World Index, where it is expected to rank 18th out of the 24 developed market member countries, ahead of Portugal and Ireland. [click to continue…]
