Earlier this month, InvestmentNews released a list of the ten ETFs financial advisors researched the most in 2009. The list, which was based on information provided by Morningstar, included several traditional inflation hedges, such as the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and iShares COMEX Gold Trust (IAU), as well as the broad-based PowerShares DB Commodity Fund (DBC). And in the top spot was the Barclays TIPS Bond Fund (TIP), which invests in inflation-protected securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. [click to continue…]
A week full of highly-anticipated events got off to a sluggish start Monday, as most major benchmarks finished little changed in light trading. Perhaps the biggest news of the day came from Moody’s, which released a report noting that the margin of error for the U.S. losing its AAA rating has “substantially diminished.” Elsewhere, President Obama took his campaign for health care overhaul on the road, while Senator Dodd unveiled a bill with potentially serious ramifications for big banks and Wall Street behemoths. [click to continue…]
ETFs started March on a high note, as major indexes gained over 1% for the week. This increase came after a job market report saw the unemployment rate hold steady, slightly exceeding expectations. Industrials and technology stocks were some of the best performers as 1,000 jobs were added to the American manufacturing industry and Apple [...]
A recent survey released by InvestmentNews highlighted the ten ETFs financial advisors researched the most, based on data provided by Morningstar. It’s tough to know exactly what to make of the list, but at the very least it gives some interesting insights into the minds of investors. The list included many of the usual suspects: [...]
Toronto-based Sprott Asset Management, a newcomer to the U.S. ETF industry, became the latest issuer to introduce a physically-backed gold ETF last week, debuting the Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS) on Friday. The new fund “was created to invest and hold substantially all of its assets in physical gold bullion” and will compete directly with [...]
As seasoned investors know, any potential investment must be evaluated not on a stand-alone basis but on its contribution to an overall portfolio. In addition to considering the risk and return profile of a particular asset, the relationship between that asset and the other holdings of the investor is of vital importance in the construction [...]
Emerging markets have been one of the hottest investment trends in recent years, as U.S. investors have begun to question assumptions about the relative risk profiles of advanced and developing economies in the wake of the recent global recession. Government intervention, a risk usually associated with emerging economies, has become common practice in the U.S. [...]
Gold has historically been used in a variety of ways by different investors, but the precious metal is perhaps most commonly embraced as a safe haven investment that smooths out overall portfolio volatility in rocky economic environments. When signs of economic weakness appear, investors tend to sell risky assets such stocks in favor of low-risk [...]
ETFs started February on a down note, with most equities slumping to finish the week. The euro sank to a new eight-month low against the dollar as sovereign debt concerns, specifically from Greece, continue to hang over the economic bloc. Meanwhile in the U.S., the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.7% despite losing 20,000 jobs [...]
Usually the monthly release of ETF trading data from the National Stock Exchange provides a good opportunity for those covering the industry to feed the hype machine just a little more. Big asset growth and cash inflows have become as certain as death and taxes, with each month adding momentum to the runaway freight train [...]
The major story on Monday came out of Washington, where president Obama released a highly-anticipated $3.8 trillion budget that raises $2 trillion in taxes and cuts spending on dozens of federal program. The controversial budget sets the stage for months of debate and horse trading on Capitol Hill. Elsewhere, the U.S. factory sector recorded its [...]
ETFs experienced a rocky week, as president Obama gave his first State of The Union Address and Apple debuted its much anticipated tablet computer, the iPad. In other news, Ben Bernanke won a secnd term after passing Senate confirmation in a 70-30 vote. Below, we offer our picks for the week’s most important and interesting [...]
