The unfriendly economic landscape from 2011 has been gradually evolving into a much more optimistic environment in the new year as confidence has improved across the board. Better-than-expected corporate earnings, manufacturing output, housing sales, and encouraging employment reports have all paved the way higher for stocks as investors are rejoicing over clear cut signs of economic recovery on the home front. Sentiment overseas has also improved considerably as European lawmakers continue to take measures that ensure stability in the currency bloc going forward. Although the bulls haven’t quite staged a stampede on Wall Street just yet, 2012 is off to a hot start and several ETFs have posted stellar returns in the first month of trading alone [see 100 Highest YTD ETF Returns].
Below we highlight ten of the best performing products year-to-date, highlighting some obvious winners as well as covering several funds flying under the radar for most investors (returns as of 1/24/2012; some ETFs similar to those included below have been omitted):
This past week was, for the most part, a stellar time for major equities as a number of positive data releases buffered a healthy market rally. The Dow pushed through 12,000 while the S&P is making reaches for the 1,300 mark. Oil was perhaps the most talked about asset, as its price skyrocketed early in the week [...]
After a rough 2010, alternative energy equities have been swinging back and forth all year long without establishing a clear trend. With 2011 being quite a busy year thus far, the only real attention that alternative energies have received has been quite negative, as many have called for the end of nuclear power after the [...]
The last week of April was a pretty solid one for markets as equities rose broadly throughout the week to finish the month at fresh highs. While a number of earnings reports were key to the positive investor sentiment, arugably the biggest news story of the week came from the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday. In [...]
Saving for one’s retirement can certainly be a daunting task. After the crash of the markets in 2008, many everyday investors saw a large chunk of their retirement savings go down the drain in just a matter of months, leaving some in a deep hole. While those close to retirement have been hit but the [...]
The past several weeks have been a nightmare for equities, as global unrest continues to batter markets. Just as it seemed that the U.S. was making strong progress to pre-recession levels, with the Dow breaking 12,000, protests broke out in the Middle East, causing waves of worry throughout the investing world. As protests spread from [...]
Thanks to oil’s recent surge, a number of tangentially connected industries have benefited from the sharp move higher in crude prices. One such industry is the solar power sector where higher oil prices make solar panels more competitive with traditional fuel sources. Furthermore, during times of great turmoil, many are also reminded of the importance [...]
Since Woodrow Wilson re-instituted the practice of delivering the State of the Union Address in person in 1913, the annual event has evolved dramatically. The introduction of radio and television brought the presidential speech into millions of households, attracting increased interest and, of course, increased scrutiny. Thanks to the proliferation of 24 hour news networks [...]
2010 brought terror to the energy sector, as the year started off with the Deepwater Horizon spill, sending energy equities across the board into a free-fall. Despite this tragedy, some analysts felt that they vast amounts of oil that had spewed into the Gulf of Mexico would finally force the U.S. government to make a [...]
In general, 2010 has been a pretty solid year for most portfolios. Despite lingering concerns about unemployment and mounting debt burdens, most global equity markets have moved higher on the year. Commodity markets have been red hot, with prices of many natural resources climbing to new highs thanks to strong demand from emerging markets and [...]
As the ETF world continues to expand at an impressive pace, a number of companies have sought to bring their own lineup of funds to the market in order to grab a piece of this rapidly-increasing pie. However, some have taken a different approach to gaining an ETF foothold, preferring to buy up existing issuers [...]
