Europe has been in the spotlight throughout the last several months as the continent has fought an increasingly desperate battle to ward off a wave of sovereign debt defaults that could ultimately lead to the end of the euro. While much of the attention–particularly from international investors–has focused on tumbling stocks, bond markets across the euro zone have been also been feeling the pressure. The recent volatility has weighed heavily on bond markets as well, as uncertainty over the ability of some large European countries to make good on their financial obligations has pushed up borrowing costs dramatically [see Three Long/Short Ideas For Euro Zone Debt Drama]. While the countries facing the most immediate and severe cash crunches–members of the PIIGS bloc–have been impacted most directly, the more “stable” countries are also seeing their costs of borrowing rise. [click to continue…]
In recent years, ETFs have become increasing popular tools for accessing the fixed income corner of the market. The space initially grew much more slowly than equity ETFs, but investors have gradually become more comfortable with the combination of fixed income exposure and the exchange-traded structure. Innovation in the bond ETF space has been impressive [...]
The last week was a busy one for investors; the combination of several major earnings reports and advancements in debt discussions on both sides of the Atlantic gave traders plenty to digest. Apple was once again the highlight; the company blew way past analyst expectations, pushing AAPL higher and giving a boost to many tech [...]
Wall Street started the week in red territory as investors ran from equity markets after sky-high yields on Greek bonds sent waves of panic across all corners of the market. As expected, gold opened higher to start the week and the precious metal continued its upward march past $1,600 an ounce in the days following. [...]
Wall Street continued its wild ride last week as equity indexes sank lower after a discouraging downgrade of Ireland to junk status and ongoing worries about the debt ceiling on the home front. Alcoa started the week with upbeat results and Google left investors smiling on Friday as shares soared upwards of 10% after the [...]
The fixed income corner of the ETF industry has experienced tremendous growth in recent years, as investors have become increasingly comfortable with achieving bond exposure through the exchange-traded structure. In 2010 more than $26 billion flowed into bond ETFs, following a year that saw more than $42 billion in net inflows. During the first six [...]
Japan’s economy has been in the spotlight for the last several weeks, as investors have attempted to determine the long-term impact of the recent natural disaster and ongoing nuclear crisis. Although the horrific disaster rocked the Japanese economy and brought up a fresh crop of issues for the nation, some are beginning to look beyond [...]
Investors have historically embraced international diversification in their portfolios as a way to smooth out volatility and reduce overall risk. But the last two years have shown that the benefits of such diversification aren’t what they once were. A meltdown that began in the U.S. mortgage market quickly spread throughout the world, sparking countless complaints [...]
The reasons for the rise of the ETF industry are numerous: intraday liquidity, (potentially) superior tax efficiency, and enhanced transparency relative to traditional actively-managed mutual funds have all contributed to the billions of dollars of inflows that these funds have seen in recent years. But the real attraction for most ETF investors is the reduced [...]
