2010 was a kind year to mining companies as the prices for their main outputs soared, outpacing gains for the overall market. However, as the calendar turned to 2011 investors began to quickly abandon their bets on the precious metal industry leading to a huge sell-off in a number of key mining names. This trend was especially pronounced in the the silver market where the white metal led on the upside but also was one of the biggest decliners to start the year. [click to continue…]
In 2010, Global X launched a number of niche ETFs focusing on companies engaged in the extraction and refinement of various commodities, including lithium (LIT), uranium (URA), and silver (SIL). The New York -based issuer made the first 2011 addition to its suite of commodity ETFs on Wednesday, rolling out the first fund to offer [...]
ETFs in the commodity space have had an incredible run in 2010, with some funds gaining over 80% on the year and becoming some of the year’s top performers. Commodities across the board have enjoyed big gains this year due to a number of factors, including a shaky dollar, strong emerging markets demand, and various [...]
With the finish line in sight, 2010 has been a generally solid year for commodities as an asset class; strong demand from emerging markets, a shaky dollar, fears about inflation, and a number of supply issues have conspired to send prices of everything from corn to gold to sugar skyward [see Top Five Commodity ETFs [...]
It’s baaaaaaaack. After a brief hiatus that saw investors rushing to determine the best ways to battle deflation, inflationary concerns have begun to surface again. The cause of the latest bout of inflationary anxiety is of course the QE2 program recently announced by the Federal Reserve that calls for the purchase of hundreds of billions [...]
One of the recurring investment themes over the last several months has been the seemingly unstoppable climb of gold. As the U.S. dollar has encountered weakness driven by worries over inflation and deteriorating credit quality, investors have embraced hard currencies as a hedge against the greenback, sending prices of gold bullion skyrocketing. The precious metals [...]
Global X announced on Friday the launch of its second new ETF in as many days, adding the Global X Uranium ETF (URA) to a fast-growing lineup. The new product will track the Solactive Global Uranium Index, a benchmark designed to reflect the performance of companies engaged in various parts of the uranium industry, including [...]
Perhaps no corner of the ETF market has exploded as rapidly as the precious metals space, as the democratization of an asset class previously off limits to many investors has resulted in billions of dollars in cash inflows. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is now the second-largest ETF by total assets, with more than $53 [...]
Commodities have been one of the hottest corners of the ETF market, exploding on to the scene in recent years as investors have rushed to gain access to a suddenly democratized asset class that has been shown to add valuable diversification benefits to traditional stock-and-bond portfolios [see Rethinking Commodity ETFs]. But some investors have been [...]
Global X, the ETF issuer that burst on to the scene with China and Brazil sector ETFs, recently filed with the SEC to offer a new ETF that would focus on companies engaged in exploration for gold. The proposed fund would seek to replicate the Solactive Global Gold Explorers Index, a benchmark made up of [...]
The first week of August was not nearly as positive as the last week of July for equity markets, which trended sideways before a weak jobs report sunk risky assets on Friday. Job creation continues to be a central issue for domestic equity markets, which seemed poised for a breakout in the wake of strong [...]
