The rise of the ETF industry has made commodity investing readily available to millions of investors whose options for exposure to this “fourth asset class” were previously limited. Most of the money in commodity exchange-traded products is in diversified funds offering exposure to more than a dozen natural resources through a single security (see a detailed breakdown of the sectors included in these products here). Among commodity-specific funds, those focusing on precious metals, agriculture, and oil and gas tend to be the most popular – GLD ($42.6 billion in assets), DBA ($2.4 billion), and UNG ($4.0 billion) are among the largest ETFs across all asset classes. [click to continue…]
As U.S. equity markets have soared in recent months, the dollar has steadily declined against most of its major rivals, recently falling below the key $1.50 level against the euro for the first time since August of last year. This extended fall has investors wondering if the dollar’s decline reflects temporary volatility, or a long-term trend.
Despite the negative connotation, a less valuable currency may not be a negative development for the U.S. economy. But it has nevertheless become a concern for many investors who have begun to seek out ways to hedge against a further decline. Not surprisingly, there are a number of ETFs that offer a way to profit from a falling dollar. Today, we take a look at one of these options: exchange-traded commodity products. To get the rest of the series, be sure to sign up for our free ETF newsletter.
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UBS, under its E-TRACS brand, launched a new exchange-traded note (ETN) yesterday that offers exposure to the DJ-UBS Commodity Index Total Return. This benchmark is designed to provide diversified commodity exposure based on the economic significance of each commodity. The index measures the collateralized returns on a basket of 19 commodity futures contracts representing energy, [...]
