Equities started off the day in the hole, but were able to climb higher through out the session. The weak day came from less-than encouraging data from the U.S. housing sector, as housing starts dropped but are still up on a year over year basis. “This has been a very unusual winter. From December through February, the government estimates there were 137,300 units started, up 26 percent from the comparable period last year” writes Floyd Norris. Norris notes that the warmer-than average winter may be inflating housing starts on the year and a drop in spring figures may be ahead. [click to continue…]
Stocks oscillated between minor gains and losses on Wednesday following yesterday’s impressive rally on Wall Street. Domestic equity indexes drifted sideways with a bit of a downward bias for most of the trading session as economic news were sparse. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was able to finish in green territory, clinching a 0.12% gain [...]
Bullish euphoria continues to permeate Wall Street as major indexes finished the day in bright green territory, settling above key resistance levels. The Nasdaq led the way higher, gaining 0.7% on the day, bolstered by Apple, which hit an all-time high of $535.38 a share [see also How An Apple Dividend Would Impact ETFs]. The [...]
Equity markets drifted sideways throughout most of the day with a downward bias, ultimately closing out the trading session in shallow red territory. The Nasdaq led the way lower, shedding 0.52% on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average proved most resilient, losing only 0.21% as the closing bell rang. Equity indexes on Wall [...]
With more than 1,400 exchange-traded products now available to U.S. investors, odds are that there will be more than one option for most desired exposures. In many cases, the generally similar products targeting a specific asset class or strategy will deliver generally similar returns. But just because two ETFs have names that sound alike or [...]
Today saw markets end slightly up as investors anxiously await next week’s holiday shortened string of trading days. Markets were rather calm as the world holds their breath for the outcome of Monday’s meeting of European officials who will either sign off on a Greek debt deal, or reject the proposed package, which could shatter [...]
Equity markets soared into green territory as investors rejoiced over encouraging economic data on Wall Street, while developments in the Euro zone also helped to ease lingering uncertainties stemming from Greece. On the home front, the Nasdaq led the way higher, gaining an impressive 1.51% on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged [...]
With more than 40% of the U.S. market, iShares has long been the leader in the U.S. ETF industry. But in recent years the competition has been gaining ground, thanks in part to more cost efficient products. According to the ETF Industry Association, Vanguard led all ETF issuers with almost $36 billion in cash inflows [...]
iShares, the largest U.S. ETF issuer in terms of both assets and number of funds, continued the aggressive expansion of its product lineup this week with five new products offering exposure to commodity-related stocks. Each of the new ETFs will compete with existing products offering indirect exposure to natural resources through stocks of companies that [...]
Equity markets endured another back-and-forth week as investors digested mixed earnings and lackluster economic data releases. Industry giants Apple and Caterpillar both surpassed analyst expectations, while AT&T, Verizon, and SanDisk all missed the mark. Investors also fretted over the latest new home sales report for the month of December, which came in below the previous [...]
Stellar earnings from Apple and a pledge from the Fed to keep interest rates low until 2014 were enough to spark a broad-based rally on Wall Street today. Euphoria from Apple’s impressive quarterly results carried the tech sector higher and the Nasdaq led the way, clinching gains of 1.14% on the day. The Dow Jones [...]
