With some 3,700 companies, the NASDAQ has more trading volume than any other stock exchange in the world. The NASDAQ 100 is one of the world’s most widely-followed indexes, measuring the performance of 100 of the largest domestic and international nonfinancial companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market. As the ETF industry has boomed, billions of dollars have flowed into funds offering exposure to this benchmark, as many investors have made the NASDAQ a core portfolio holding. [click to continue…]
As the stock market continues to rise, seemingly running ahead of fundamentals, more and more investors are becoming concerned that the stocks are becoming overvalued, and that a downward correction may be just around the corner. While safe haven investments such as the U.S. dollar and gold are popular picks for investors looking to profit from a decline in asset prices, the inverse correlation between these investments and equities is far from perfect.
A growing number of investors are beginning to utilize inverse ETFs to accomplish a wide range of investment goals, ranging from establishing hedges in their portfolios to speculating on a pullback in prices. If used correctly, these products can be very powerful, but they can be complex and come with a number of risks that should be carefully considered.
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In the week during which the Obama administration will unveil details surrounding its plan to revamp the regulation of the U.S. financial sector, calls for increased oversight of the ETF industry are picking up steam as well. Scott Burns, director of ETF Analysis at Morningstar, recently laid out a case for increased regulatory requirements for ETFs [...]
