The month of May was a generally disappointing stretch for investors, as both international and domestic equity markets struggled to overcome obstacles new and old. Commodities, which had been a nice source of absolute returns for much of the last year, fell on hard times as well; precious metals went into a brief freefall, and most other natural resources saw price declines as well.
May demonstrated the importance of a meaningful allocation to fixed income within any long-term portfolio, as most bond ETFs turned in nice gains during the month. The following tables highlight the best performers from each ETFdb Category during the month of May [ETFdb Pro members can download spreadsheets showing performance and expense data for the entire ETF universe]. [click to continue…]
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 [...]
If the economic recovery effort can be thought of as a relay race, the governments of the world are nearing the end of their leg. After propping up the economy with massive stimulus programs and unprecedented injections of liquidity into global financial markets, cash-strapped government leaders are now looking to pass the baton to consumers, [...]
With interest rates still hovering just above zero and growing concerns over an unavoidable uptick in inflation, many investors are anticipating that the Federal Reserve will have no choice but to raise rates from their historically low levels in the near future. Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the Fed, recently unveiled a strategy to unwind [...]
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 [...]
Over the last year, swine flu has been the news story that just won’t die. After an early initial scare, H1N1 faded into the background of the minds of many for several months, before returning in full force as flu season approached. Of course, the threat posed by the disease never really diminished, and health [...]
Starbucks’ announcement after the close Tuesday that it walloped the Street’s earnings expectations for its fiscal third quarter (as well as strong fourth quarter and fiscal 2010 earnings guidance) sent its stock higher, as shares of SBUX jumped nearly 10% in after hours trading. But the earnings report isn’t good news for just Starbucks: it might [...]
With the WHO’s announcement that it has officially declared an H1N1 flu pandemic – the first global flu epidemic in 41 years – swine flu has Wall Street’s full attention once again. Disease fears had mostly faded from the mind of many investors, despite numerous warnings that we weren’t yet fully in the clear. While [...]
For those of you who haven’t heard (and you must’ve been on the moon if you haven’t), President Obama recently marked the end of his first 100 days in office. Ever since FDR pushed through 15 major bills in his first 3+ months on the job, pundits have sold the idea of this period as [...]
