First, the good news: all those fears about runaway inflation following from the massive injections of capital into financial markets appear to have been overblown. Now for the bad news: the alternative may be much worse.
For months wary investors have been eagerly watching CPI reports, fearful of the release indicating that price increases are beginning to accelerate, presumably spiraling out of control in the not-so-distant future. But instead of racing towards the double digits, CPI figures have slipped closer and closer to negative territory. That has sparked fears of deflation, a rare but serious economic condition that has some of the world’s most prominent investors legitimately concerned. [click to continue…]
In recent years, investors have grown increasingly comfortable with the thought of achieving their fixed income exposure through ETFs. Through the first six months of 2010, bond ETFs had seen cash inflows of more than $18 billion, nearly half of the total for the ETF industry as a whole. Many of the most popular bond [...]
Uncertainty over the prospects for the global economic recovery in recent months has prompted some investors to vacate equity positions in favor of safe havens that tend to perform well in turbulent economic environments [see Five Safe Haven ETFs]. Once upon a time, long-term bonds would have been a popular option for investors seeking safety. [...]
Fixed income ETFs have been one of the hottest growth areas in a rapidly-expanding industry. According to the ETF screener, there are now more than 100 bond ETFs available to U.S. investors, a significant increase from just one year ago. At the end of February, bond ETF assets totaled about $107 billion, an increase of [...]
To many investors, last month’s data release showing that core CPI declined in January for the first time in nearly 30 years was a welcome bit of news. The fact that inflation has yet to rear its head might extend the already prolonged period of low interest rates a bit further, as the Fed looks [...]
State Street has filed for SEC approval on the Barclays Capital International Corporate Bond ETF (IBND), which could become the first U.S.-listed ETF to track the performance of the investment-grade corporate sector of the global bond market.
ETFs finished February range-bound, as most equity markets remained choppy to finish the week. This came after continued weakness in the euro zone and some disappointing news on the jobs front, with 20,000 additions to the list of people seeking unemployment benefits. In other news, AIG reported a $8.87 billion quarterly loss, raising concerns that [...]
Last Friday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% in January and climbed by 2.6% over the past 12 months. But after stripping out volatile food and energy prices, prices actually fell by 0.1% in January, marking the first time since 1982 that “core CPI” has declined. While the [...]
State Street has become the latest ETF issuer to jump in on the corporate bond ETF boom, launching the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF (SCPB) on Wednesday. SCPB will be linked to the Barclays Capital U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index, a benchmark that measures the performance of investment grade corporate debt [...]
