The health care sector has been in the middle of major political and economic debates since the Obama administration began pushing its aggressive health care law last year. Since that time, many haved argue over how to move forward in the space, and over economically viable ways to provide care to the citizens of our nation. With Obama’s recent budget plans for 2012, he will aim to increase spending in the health sector–perhaps boosting the outlooks for some of the firms within it. From an ETF standpoint, health care funds have had a strong 2011, with iShares and State Street‘s largest health care ETFs (IHF and XLV) up 12% and 4%, respectively. Today, an announcement from a major medical firm will come that will put these funds in focus for the day [see also Warning: Obama’s $3.73 Trillion Budget Could Sink These Three ETFs]. [click to continue…]
For the past two weeks, global economic trends have been weighing on equities, with an Irish debt crisis, the possible raising of Chinese interest rates, and now a corruption scandal in India, markets have tried hard to keep their heads above water, but all to no avail. Most trading days have finished in the red [...]
As equity markets continue to tread water, many investors who haven’t fled for safe havens such as Treasuries and gold have turned to more defensive sectors of the U.S. equity market. Despite this flight to quality, ETFs in the Health and Biotechnology ETFdb Category have slumped so far in 2010, with most falling by more [...]
Health care was once considered to be one of the most stable sectors of the U.S. economy, with demands for products and services fluctuating little during various phases of the economic cycle. But recent events in Washington have brought increased scrutiny and volatility, as the Obama administration’s health care reform has investors questioning the future [...]
The U.S. House of Representatives worked late into the night on Sunday to pass historic health care legislation, capping months of intense debate and dealmaking. Sweeping changes to the nation’s health care system seemed like a done deal earlier this year before a major upset in a special Senate election sent Democrats back to the [...]
Highlighting the increasingly fluid political landscape in Washington, a relatively unknown Republican state senator claimed the Massachusetts Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy on Tuesday. Scott Brown’s upset victory over Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general who had been a heavy favorite just one month ago, not only humbled Democrats already expecting a handful [...]
BlackRock’s acquisition of Barclays Global Investors and iShares seemingly went off without a hitch earlier this month. But certain actions required by terms of the deal have proven difficult to wrap up, resulting in a dozen iShares funds now operating under interim investment advisory agreements and potentially closing down.
It’s been an interesting week in the world of ETFs: major indexes trended higher despite an increase in the trade deficit and a lower number for the Consumer Sentiment Index. Here are the ETF Database staff picks of the week’s most important and interesting stories from around the Web:
It’s been an interesting week the world of ETFs: ETFs trended upwards at the beginning of the week but fell back in trading late Thursday and Friday. Here are the ETF Database staff picks of the week’s most important and interesting stories from around the Web:
Healthcare reform has been in the news a lot lately, with constant finger-pointing, debate, and competing versions of comprehensive bills. Although the passage of comprehensive reform appears to be less certain that it was only weeks ago, it remains likely that major changes are coming before the end of the year. While many specifics are [...]
