Fidelity Investments announced today that it will offer its retail customers commission-free online trades for a suite of 25 iShares ETFs. The funds included in the commission-free platform include ETFs in all nine domestic equity style/size categories, as well as international equity and fixed income options. “Fidelity has partnered with the leading ETF provider in the market to bring investors the best brokerage offering in the industry today,” said Kathleen A. Murphy, president of Personal Investing at Fidelity Investments. “Simply put, we’re offering the broadest selection of commission-free ETFs from the undisputed ETF leader, and it’s only available through Fidelity.” [click to continue…]
Leveraged ETFs were in the headlines a great deal in 2009, but most of the coverage was less than favorable. Misinformation on these products was widespread throughout the year, leading to confusion on many aspects of these products and some unfair generalizations.
One of the primary points of discussion was the performance of leveraged ETFs when held by investors for extended periods of times. Because these funds focus on delivering amplified returns on a daily basis, returns over time are compounded, meaning that the effective return over multiple sessions depends not only on the change in the underlying benchmark, but in the path of the index during that period. In trending markets, the return to leveraged ETFs will generally be greater than the simple target multiple times the return on the underlying index. But in seesawing markets — one where gains are frequently followed by losses and vice versa — the compounding of returns can cause erosion of returns to investors who buy and hold. [click to continue…]
When discussing their portfolios and asset allocation tactics, many investors and advisors indicate their preference for either value and growth investing in an effort to define their general investment strategy. ETF investors are no different, with dozens of funds that tilt their holdings towards each strategy offering ways to construct portfolios designed to take advantage [...]
Unemployment was the story of the day on Friday, as a report from the Labor Department showed that unemployment unexpectedly declined to 10.0% in November. Only 11,000 jobs were shed in the U.S., the best monthly showing since December 2007. Economists had predicted a loss of 125,000 jobs and an unemployment rate holding steady at [...]
The recovery showed signs of falling into chaos on Thursday, with Treasury Secretary Geithner facing a firestorm in Washington as lawmakers called for his resignation and Dell reported a decline in profits of more than 50%. Elsewhere in the world, EU leaders (as expected) selected Belgian Premier Herman van Rompuy as the bloc’s first full-time [...]
The wild ride on Wall Street continued on Thursday, with stocks posting big gains as Starbucks and CBS posted profits and retail sales moved slightly higher for the last month. Cisco led tech stocks higher, driving the Dow to a gain of more than 200 points for the first time in three months. The ETFdb [...]
