Today marks the first day of trading for the Market Vectors Russia Small-Cap ETF (RSXJ), the first exchange-traded product offering U.S. investors exposure to small cap Russian stocks. The new fund from Van Eck will seek to replicate the performance of the Market Vectors Russia Small-Cap Index, a benchmark that includes about 35 small cap Russian stocks. The underlying components are unlikely to be familiar to many U.S. investors; the largest individual weightings are afforded to Pharmstandar, (8%), LSR Group (7.9%), and O’Key Group (6.8%). [click to continue…]
iShares continued the expansion of its product lineup on Wednesday, debuting the MSCI Russia Capped Index Fund (ERUS) on the NYSE Arca Exchange. The new ETF will track the performance of the MSCI Russia 25/50 Index, a benchmark that currently includes about 28 individual securities. All 25/50 indexes, such as the benchmark to which the [...]
Through the first eight months of 2010, a number of unexpected disasters–both natural and man-made–have taken their toll on equity markets around the world. Chile was battered by a devastating earthquake. The airline industry took a hit from a volcanic eruption in Iceland. And the oil industry has been slammed by the Deepwater Horizon fiasco [...]
As the economies of Western Europe have grown more intertwined over the past few years, Russia has been left on the sidelines. Blocked out of NATO and the EMU even as both organizations creep ever closer to its western boarders, the once mighty superpower was quickly being boxed in and losing influence over former Cold [...]
Earlier this week, communication and IT industry giant Cisco Systems announced a massive push into the Russian market by investing more than $1 billion in the country over the next decade. The company will also be providing $100 million in venture capital in order to establish a “dedicated physical presence” in a planned technology hub [...]
One of the interesting developments to come out of the turmoil in global equity markets over the last two years is the surge in interest in the world’s emerging economies. While developed markets continue to be plagued by mounting debt, rising unemployment, and other macroeconomic issues, emerging markets have raced ahead, establishing themselves as the [...]
As the economic recovery has taken root over the last year, one of the most interesting developments has been the widening gap between the emerging and developed economies of the world. High unemployment rates and mounting government debt continue to weigh on the U.S. and much of Europe, while Japan battles the additional forces of [...]
After a few speed bumps early in 2010, ETFs are back on track and traveling full steam ahead. In the first three months of 2010, nearly 60 new ETFs have been launched, which is already equivalent to nearly half funds to hit the market over the course of 2009. The recent SEC decision to halt approval on products using derivatives may slow this pace a [...]
The SPDR S&P Russia ETF (RBL) began trading on Thursday, becoming just the second U.S.-listed ETF offering exposure to one of the world’s largest countries and most unique economies. RBL will seek to track the performance of the S&P Russia Capped BMI Index, a float adjusted market cap-weighted benchmark consisting of publicly-traded companies domiciled in [...]
