Posts tagged as:

IWC

Although the economy remains weak in the U.S., it is arguably better here than in many other spots around the world. Inflationary concerns and extreme levels of volatility are rocking emerging markets while many developed markets are facing debt crises on a seemingly daily basis. Yet, investors still remain skeptical of the American stock market as a whole, preferring to keep their assets in low risk options instead. Unsurprisingly, this fear of risk has led many into large cap equities as a haven from the storm, leaving many investors to forget about smaller, and often times more volatile, market cap levels. While this may be fine in a high risk environment, investors could miss out on some of the biggest gains should the economy stabilize and push broad markets higher. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Best ETF Performers Of 2010: Winners For Every ETFdb Category

by Michael Johnston on January 5, 2011

Last year was a good year for most asset classes, as investor portfolios continued to recover from the recent recession. The difference in performance between many comparable funds was significant, and many of the best performers of 2010 are relatively small funds that maintain considerably smaller asset bases than their more popular competitors. Below, we profiled the top performing ETFs in more than 60 ETFdb Categories covering all major asset classes. ETFs that launched in 2010 were excluded, as were those that stopped trading during the year [for more ETF insights, sign up for our free ETF newsletter]: [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Claymore Launches New Micro Cap ETF (WMCR)

by Michael Johnston on August 23, 2010

Claymore announced last week the introduction of a new ETF providing exposure to the smallest of the small cap domestic equities. The Wilshire Micro Cap ETF (WMCR) will seek to replicate the Wilshire US Micro-Cap Index, a benchmark consisting of approximately 1,600 micro cap stocks. The weighted average market capitalization of the underlying index is [...]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Beyond IWM: Five Intriguing Small Cap ETFs

by Michael Johnston on June 15, 2010

Although most U.S. investors build their portfolios around a core of large cap domestic equities, small-cap firms, which generally have a market capitalization’s under $2 billion, are a vital component as well. Because small cap stocks tend to have smaller customer bases, shorter operating histories, and less cash on hand, they are often more volatile [...]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Ten iShares ETFs Every Investor Should Know (But Most Don’t)

by Michael Johnston on February 10, 2010

San Francisco-based iShares, which was acquired by BlackRock from Barclays last year, has more than 180 U.S.-listed ETFs. But the distribution of assets is far from even across these funds. At the end of 2009, the ten largest iShares ETFs–only about five percent of the issuer’s product line–accounted for 50% of total assets. So there’s [...]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Definitive Guide to Micro Cap ETFs: Micro Cap ETF Investing 101

by Eric Dutram on December 21, 2009

Many investors choose to build their portfolios around core holdings in large and mega cap equities, investing in the S&P 500 or a similar benchmark. Beyond “blue chips,” many round out portfolio holdings with more moderate allocations to mid cap and small cap equities as a means of achieving diversification and potentially enhancing returns. But [...]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }