The competitive landscape of the ETF industry has evolved rapidly over the last several years, with several new players–both big and small–making a push into the space. From financial giants such as RBS and Citi to relative unknowns such as Javelin and Precidian, the roster of active ETF issuers has grown to nearly four dozen. Now, mirroring a trend playing out in the lineup of exchange-traded products, it appears that some contraction is in order. Coming months could see a few ETP issuers wiped off the map, as a series of fund closures and mergers should reduce the number of companies that market exchange-traded products [see also ETF Update: Pipeline Continues To Fill]. [click to continue…]
Van Eck announced last week a partnership with Merrill Lynch that may ultimately lead to the conversion of several HOLDRS products to soon-to-be-launched Market Vectors ETFs. As part of the agreement, Van Eck will introduce six new ETFs that maintain the same tickers as the existing HOLDRS but that will be part of the Market [...]
Wall Street continued its wild ride last week as equity indexes sank lower after a discouraging downgrade of Ireland to junk status and ongoing worries about the debt ceiling on the home front. Alcoa started the week with upbeat results and Google left investors smiling on Friday as shares soared upwards of 10% after the [...]
Oil has not been the talk of markets since pre-recessionary time when sky high prices, above $140 per barrel to be exact, were acting as an anchor on various aspects of our economy. That period in time saw numerous businesses struggle with soaring crude prices, a good example being U.S. airline Skybus, who was forced [...]
Only a few days into the ninth month of the year, September is shaping up to be a far better month than August, when many benchmarks were pummeled by negative outlooks and a wave of bearish sentiment on Wall Street. After a better-than-expected jobs report sent markets surging to close trading last week, investors will [...]
As the summer months draw to a close, many ETFs find themselves in negative territory on the year; an extension of 2009′s magnificent rally has simply not materialized. Many of the disappointing performances from equity ETFs have been easy enough to explain, as scenarios that have played out countless times before have dragged down stocks. [...]
One of the biggest stories from the second quarter of the year was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill which continues to contaminate the Gulf of Mexico. As embattled oil giant BP prepares to finally seal off the well, the focus moves from containment to blame which has put a variety of companies in the spotlight [...]
The first week of earnings season brought mixed results from many bellwethers and did not help to give the market any direction heading into the third quarter. The financials sector took a hit with Citigroup and Bank of America both reporting weak revenues numbers while Internet and consumer sectors also slumped on the back of poor outlooks [...]
Taking a quick look around the investing landscape, one might not immediately suspect that we’ve entered the dog days of summer; there is no shortage of bears who have seemingly come out of hibernation. But not everyone is down on the economic outlook with bulls making a case for a strong second half of 2010. [...]
The first half of 2010 has not been particularly kind to U.S. equity markets, but some corners of the economy have had a tougher road than others. The domestic energy sector has been battered and bruised by the first six months of the year; nearly all of the funds in the Energy Equities ETFdb Category [...]
In the wake of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, the energy sector has fallen on tough times. The ongoing crude leak in the Gulf of Mexico has further tarnished Big Oil’s public reputation, setting the stage for a sharp regulatory backlash. With a moratorium on offshore drilling already in the works, uncertainty hung [...]
