With over 1,400 exchange-traded products on the market, investors have likely run into some seemingly “duplicate” offerings. While many of the “plain vanilla” products have quite a bit in common, there are more than a handful of funds which offer seemingly identical exposure, although a closer look under the hood reveals some noteworthy surprises [see 25 Things Every Financial Advisor Should Know About ETFs]. The old saying “never judge a book by its cover” can certainly help investors when it comes time to doing the proper research necessary for selecting a fund that best suits their objectives and risk tolerance.
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Today saw markets finish out their best week in nearly three years, though the day remained relatively flat. Friday started off on a strong note as U.S. unemployment came in surprisingly low, but markets ended up falling as profit-taking ensued. But its hard to blame anyone for selling out after the massive week we have [...]
Major indexes are, as AC/DC once said, “back in black” for 2011, as Friday’s trading session brought a welcomed performance with strong gains. As Veteran’s Day came to a close, the Dow jumped 259 points while the S&P tacked on nearly 2% in trading. Despite the abysmal performance on Wednesday, both of the aforementioned indexes [...]
The last five years have seen a tremendous expansion of the ETF industry, as assets have skyrocketed and the number of products available to U.S.-based investors has multiplied. That same period of time has also been a period of tremendous volatility in global financial markets; the last five years have witnessed an unprecedented financial crisis, [...]
After a miserable start to the month, markets were able to rebound to put November back on track. The day saw the Dow top out at 1.53% while the S&P 500 added nearly 20 points. The NASDAQ and 10-year bonds also recovered the day after less-than-encouraging news from Europe hit markets hard. After it had [...]
As ETFs have burst on to the scene in recent years, just about every serious investor and professional money manager has taken a crash course in exchange-traded products, becoming familiar with the countless benefits and nuances of these products. Features such as enhanced transparency, upgraded tax efficiency, and low costs are generally well known at [...]
The past week was, again, extremely choppy as European rumors took center stage, leaving investors fixated on events coming out of Germany and France. While some progress was definitely made in the negotiations, this week’s summit could play a key role in determining the long term future of the currency bloc. Beyond these events, investors [...]
Few asset classes have delivered more impressive performances over the last several years than gold; investors seeking safe havens–or perhaps just fiat currency alternatives–have flocked to the yellow metal in droves in recent past, pushing asset prices sharply higher. And, not surprisingly, more and more investors seeking out precious metals exposure have elected to utilize [...]
Today marked the end of a tumultuous week that saw high volumes accompanied by high volatility. The week saw poor trading days until Thursday came, when all hell broke loose. A massive sell off led to losses of more than 3% in most major benchmarks, as investors hit the panic button in reaction to Fed [...]
Although stocks rallied in mid-day trading, they couldn’t hang on to the surge and fell back towards breakeven to close out Tuesday’s session. The Dow managed to finish up by 0.1% but the broader indexes were not so lucky as the S&P 500 fell by 0.2% and the Nasdaq sank by 0.9%. Utilities and health care led [...]
American equity markets started the day on a weak note thanks to troubles in Europe, but surged in the final few hours of trading on hopes of a solution in Greece. The Dow finished the day up by 1.3% while the broader indexes posted better performances, gaining 1.4% for the S&P 500 and 1.6% for [...]
