Over the last several years the economic growth gap between the world’s emerging and developed markets has gradually widened, as the U.S. and Western Europe face mounting debt balances and rising unemployment while the BRIC countries continue to expand at an impressive clip. This discrepancy has prompted a fundamental shift in the asset allocation process for many investors; the “home country bias” that historically prompted significant allocations to U.S. stocks and only minor weightings to developing economies has eased, with investors embracing emerging markets as a primary driver of both global GDP growth and asset growth within a portfolio. [click to continue…]
Commodities have been one of the hottest corners of the ETF market, exploding on to the scene in recent years as investors have rushed to gain access to a suddenly democratized asset class that has been shown to add valuable diversification benefits to traditional stock-and-bond portfolios [see Rethinking Commodity ETFs]. But some investors have been [...]
Analysts covering the U.S. mining industry no doubt spend a great deal of their time monitoring activity in resource rich South America and searching through the latest bulletins out of Beijing for hints on the strength of China’s raw materials appetite. But the future of the industry may depend on an escalating conflict in a [...]
What seemed to be a stable market recovery has encountered some turbulence in recent weeks, as lingering uncertainty in the euro zone has rippled throughout the global economy. Recent market volatility–the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) has posted a remarkable gain of 45.4% over the past month–has caused a variety of responses [...]
When Google announced earlier this month that it was making a nearly $40 million investment in two wind farms owned by NextEra Energy Resources, many investors were left scratching their heads. The Mountain View, California-based company is known for allowing its employees to pursue pet projects on company time, but a not-so-insignificant investment in wind [...]
By all accounts, the economic recovery that began in March 2009 and continued through the first four months of 2010 seemed to be on relatively solid footing. Earnings season in the U.S. got off to a relatively strong start, unemployment rates seemed poised to pull back, and the reluctant agreement of the (relatively) wealthy European [...]
March 9, 2009 is a date etched into the memories of many investors. After months of unprecedented volatility, depressing statistical releases, and countless false bottoms, that’s the day most equity markets finally hit their lows. It also marked the beginning of an impressive rally that saw most major indexes climb steadily for the remainder of [...]
After watching their portfolios take devastating blows in 2008, many investors hoped that a new year would bring a reversal of fortune and a recovery of lost assets. After the first two months of the year tested resolve, things finally took a turn for the better in March, and long climb upwards began. Most equity [...]
Following a year that saw some of the worst performances in recent memory, many asset classes have bounced back in 2009. But some have performed better than others, and as the year draws to a close we take a look at some of the best-performing ETFs. The year’s top gainers include a few of the [...]
Michael Johnston, senior analyst for ETF Database appeared on live television earlier today to discuss underdog sector ETFs. Semi-conductors (SMH), gaming (BJK), and coal (KOL) are three of the less appreciated sectors that have been heating up lately. Johnston analyzed these sectors and more with show host Michael Hainsworth. Watch the complete interview at BNN.
IndexIQ, a pioneer in the hedge fund ETF industry, has expanded its product line to include two new ETFs designed to provide protection against inflation: the IQ CPI Inflation Hedged ETF (CPI) and IQ ARB Global Resources ETF (GRES). These ETFs hit the market at a time when investors are becoming increasingly concerned about the [...]
