ETF Database » QQQQ

ETF Ticker Shakeup: QQQQ Now QQQ

Michael Johnston — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:00:14 +0000

One of the largest and most popular U.S.-listed ETFs underwent a change of its trading symbol on Wednesday, as the PowerShares QQQ, which previously traded under the symbol “QQQQ” on the NASDAQ Exchange, dropped a letter to make its ticker consistent with the fund name. The new ETF will trade under the ticker QQQ; the exchange and all other fund attributes will remain the same. The PowerShares QQQ, which was previously known as the NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking Stock, is one of the oldest exchange-traded products and has a rather unique history. The fund, structured as a Unit Investment Trust (UIT) began trading in early 1999, and Nasdaq transferred sponsorship of the product to PowerShares in 2007. The PowerShares QQQ has aggregate assets of more than $23 billion, and is one of the ten largest U.S.-listed ETFs by total assets. The index to which QQQ is linked, the NASDAQ-100 Index, includes [...]

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Where Insider Trading & ETFs Meet

Michael Johnston — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:00:21 +0000

As the growth of the ETF industry has accelerated in recent years, the chorus of praises for the exchange-traded structure has become deafening in some corners of the investing world. Credited with reducing expenses, improving tax efficiency, and offering increased transparency, ETFs have received an overwhelmingly positive reception from investors both big and small. There have, of course, been some detractors along the way, and some of the ETF critics have attracted a fair amount of attention for allegations that are often more outrageous than factual. BusinessWeek issued a blanked warning against the use of commodity ETFs last year, mistaking the nuances of a futures-based strategy for a flaw in the ETF structure (the advice is even more laughable in hindsight considering the incredible performance figures turned in by almost all commodity ETPs in 2010). A report from a Boston firm claiming that countless ETFs were in danger of “collapsing” [...]

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January ETF Flows: Hot Start To 2011

Michael Johnston — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:00:12 +0000

In 2010 the ETF industry stumbled coming out of the gate, as more than $17 billion flowed out of exchange-traded products in the first month of the year. This year’s January figures showed an opposite result, as the latest data released by the National Stock Exchange shows that U.S.-listed ETPs took in more than $10 billion last month. The industry finished the month with $1.02 trillion in assets, an increase of about 1% over the prior month. Reversing the trend of recent years, money flowed into domestic equity funds (inflows of almost $10 billion) and out of international stock ETFs (outflows of $1.3 billion) in January. Commodity ETFs also bled assets as investors fled physically-backed gold products, while fixed income funds saw big inflows [see Are Bond ETFs Broken?]. After taking in more than $40 billion in 2010, Vanguard picked up where it left off in 2011 by leading all [...]

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Understanding The Quirks Of QQQQ

Michael Johnston — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:00:13 +0000

As the ETF industry has continued to gain traction in recent years, indexes have been transformed from hypothetical performance benchmarks into essentially investable assets. As such, investors have become increasingly familiar with many of the indexes that are linked to the most popular exchange-traded products and the methodologies used in the construction and ongoing maintenance. In most cases, the strategies used to determine index components and assign weightings is straightforward and easy to understand. Many of the most popular equity ETFs are linked to cap-weighted indexes, meaning that the companies with the largest market capitalization–in some cases float-adjusted–are given the largest weighting. Equal weighted indexes have become increasingly popular in recent years; these products also feature a relatively simple methodology for determining components and weightings. Other index weighting and construction methodologies, including those that use various fundamental factors such as revenue, earnings, and dividends, are relatively easy to grasp [see [...]

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Three ETFs To Watch This Week: QQQQ, IAI, QCLN

Stoyan Bojinov — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:00:16 +0000

Equities across the globe rose higher for the most part last week, with Portugal’s bond sale easing debt worries, and upbeat earnings reports sending the S&P 500 to new multi-month highs. Meanwhile, gold took a tumble as the conservative safe-haven lost its luster despite continued weakness in the dollar. Treasurys marched upwards on Friday, after the latest December CPI data showed a 0.50% rise in consumer prices, leading many to believe that inflation would not appear for quite some time. This week, investors will have an onslaught of economic news to sort through, as financial and technology giants are slated to release earnings for their most recent fiscal quarters. On top of that, housing market statistics, the Philadelphia Fed Survey, and jobless claims are also hitting the street in this holiday-shortened week as all domestic markets are closed today in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Below, we profile [...]

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Apple & Verizon Team Up On iPhone: How Will ETFs Respond?

Jared Cummans — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:30:23 +0000

Finally, no more rumors, no more speculation, Verizon Wireless has officially announced they will be servicing the iPhone come February 10th of this year. Apple’s iPhone broke ground for the smartphone industry four years ago, and it quickly became the poster child for the new generation of mobile devices. For years, the iPhone has been offered exclusively through AT&T, a partnership that has been rumored to end for quite some time, but now a confirmation that the partnership has been dissolved has the Street up in arms. From a consumer standpoint, the news is fantastic; users will now have the choice between two networks with the iPhone, allowing many to stay with Verizon if they so choose. But from an investment standpoint, the news may not be as good as some might have you believe [see also Ten Commandments Of ETF Investing]. Let’s start with the upside: Verizon Wireless will [...]

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CME Nixes Futures On ETFs

Michael Johnston — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:54:27 +0000

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange will soon stop listing futures contracts on ETFs according to the Wall Street Journal, pulling the plug after the products failed to generate much interest among investors. The CME has listed futures on the NASDAQ 100 QQQ (QQQQ), S&P 500 SPDR (SPY), and Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM) since 2005, but won’t be listing any new futures contracts linked to ETFs. “The products weren’t that liquid and deep,” said Scot Warren, managing director of equity indexes for CME, according to WSJ. “It wasn’t appropriate to put that level of investment on something with that little liquidity.” The low trading volumes on futures contracts doesn’t necessarily reflect a lack of interest in ETFs; futures contracts linked to the indexes underlying ETFs have always been popular, and investors have been slow to make the switch to futures contracts linked to ETFs instead. According to the CME, there were [...]

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Ten Commandments Of ETF Investing

Michael Johnston — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 11:05:53 +0000

As ETFs have burst on to the scene in recent years and worked their way into the investing mainstream, the number of products available and complexity of exposure offered has increased significantly. Advisors and investors have taken steps to educate themselves on the ins and outs of ETFs, but many are still scrambling to play catch-up and unaware of the complexities these products can present. What began as a handful of securities seeking to replicate widely-known stock and bond indexes has grown into a lineup of more than 1,000 funds, offering exposure to nearly every asset class, region, and investment strategy imaginable. While this impressive growth has enhanced the arsenal of securities available to ETF investors, it has also created the potential for misuse and made finding the right ticker symbol a bit more challenging. And while ETFs offer countless potential advantages relative to strategies that revolve around mutual funds [...]

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Daily ETF Roundup: UNG Tumbles, QQQQ Surges

Eric Dutram — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:05:32 +0000

A rocky Friday trading session ended with mixed results for American equities as the Dow fell, the S&P 500 was flat, and the Nasdaq surged ahead. Commodity markets finally fell back down to earth as gold tumbled by $9/oz. and oil fell by 1.5% on the day. Meanwhile, the dollar managed to firm up in Friday trading as the greenback gained against most of the world’s major currencies helping to push the dollar index just shy of the 77 mark. This helped to send some sectors of the agricultural market back down; sugar prices fell by over 3% and were followed by similar losses in the cotton and cocoa markets as well. Investors did however scoop up shorter term bonds which saw their yields plummet despite a move out of longer-term issues by many investors. Today’s session was influenced by a weak showing out of key market component General Electric [...]

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This Week In ETFs: September 17th Edition

Jared Cummans — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 22:00:07 +0000

An eventful week on Wall Street gave investors some reason to be optimistic about the sustainability of the recovery, as a number of positive data releases and earnings report boosted sentiment as the third quarter draws to a close. September is holding up as an impressive equity market rally, reclaiming much of the ground lost during a dismal August. It was also a busy week in the ETF industry, with funds both coming and going. Among the noteworthy additions to the ETF lineup was the first emerging markets consumer ETF (ECON) from EGShares [see Another Emerging Markets ETF First]. Among those funds to announce their termination were the Oklahoma and Texas funds and Javelin’s Islamic market ETF [see Oklahoma ETF, Texas ETF To Shut Down]. Below, we highlight three of the best ETF stories from around the Web during the last week: ETFs Now In SEC Circuit Breaker Program at [...]

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ETF Database » QQQQ

ETF Ticker Shakeup: QQQQ Now QQQ

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Where Insider Trading & ETFs Meet

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January ETF Flows: Hot Start To 2011

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Understanding The Quirks Of QQQQ

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Apple & Verizon Team Up On iPhone: How Will ETFs Respond?

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CME Nixes Futures On ETFs

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