As the year comes to a close, many equity markets are still seeking to reclaim pre-recession levels and the outlook for 2011 is far from certain. Recent weeks have seen renewed worries over the potential scope of the European debt crisis, as Ireland has become the latest fiscal nightmare for the euro zone. Stateside, financial news is dominated by increasingly heated clashes over legislation that would extend Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits, perhaps promoting growth and consumer spending while putting Washington further and further into debt. And while the holiday shopping season seemingly got off to a good start, it remains to be seen just how aggressively consumers will spend with unemployment perilously close to double digits [see also Three ETFs To Watch If Roubini Is Right About Europe].
[click to continue…]
Now that the financial crisis appears to finally be subsiding, many regulators and economists have shifted their focus away from containment and towards prevention, seeking to ensure that a similar meltdown does not devastate markets again. Over the weekend, regulators finally hammered out a plan to force banks to limit risk and keep more adequate [...]
The first week of the summer earnings season has offered plenty of excitement, but so far has failed to give the markets direction heading into the second half of the year. Some industrial companies such as Alcoa have posted solid numbers, while the tech sector was relatively mixed; Intel beat estimates but Google failed to [...]
After the passage of a controversial health care bill earlier this year, many analysts wondered if the Obama administration lacked the political capital to push through comprehensive financial reform as the next big domestic issue. After various packages met stiff resistance on several occasions, Senators passed the financial regulation overhaul bill on Thursday in a [...]
With just over a month in the books for 2010, equity markets have already been taken on a wild ride. After an initial jump, concerns over a government-imposed slowdown in China weighed on global stocks, particularly emerging markets and commodity-intensive businesses. As we enter February, many equity ETFs find themselves in the red for the [...]
The Obama presidency took a turn towards increased government intervention in the private sector last week when the president stepped up his campaign against Wall Street and announced a far-reaching proposal for tougher regulation of the country’s biggest banks. Backed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, Obama put forth a plan designed to limit [...]
After sweeping into power last year, democrats have fallen on hard times. Approval ratings are slipping across the board and several incumbents are vulnerable heading into mid-term elections. The latest blow came from Senator Chris Dodd, the Chairman of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, who announced that he will not be seeking reelection later this [...]
Over the last few years, ETFs have seen a tremendous surge in use and popularity among all breeds of investors for a number of reasons. Some are attracted to the low costs. Others value the tax efficiency and liquidity. I love ETFs (in part) because they facilitate a “top-down” approach to investing. Picking individual stocks [...]
On Thursday and Friday, the leaders of 19 of the most powerful nations, as well as the leader of the European Union, will meet in the Steel City to discuss a variety of topics ranging from economic integration to energy policy. Pittsburgh was chosen to highlight the dramatic shift in fortunes following the city’s struggles [...]
Over the past year, the financial sector has been a favorite target of criticisms, frequently accused of outrageous greed that sparked the mortgage meltdown in the U.S., eventually spreading to nearly all corners of the global economy. Moreover, the volatility of financial companies has skyrocketed, perhaps best evidenced by the fact that Direxion’s 3x leveraged Daily [...]
First Trust Advisors L.P., the manager of a popular line of more than 35 ETFs, has announced that its newest fund, the NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund, will begin trading on the NASDAQ exchange on July 1. The new ETF will trade under the ticker QABA and have an expense ratio of 0.60%. The index [...]
