Another rough start to trading on Thursday gave way to solid gains in the afternoon session as some key earnings reports helped to boost investor sentiment. The Dow managed to finish the day ahead by just four points while the S&P 500 posted gains of 0.2% and the Nasdaq led the way on the upside with gains approaching 0.6%. Meanwhile, commodity markets continued their slide as gold tumbled close to the $1,310/oz. mark and oil lost 2% in Thursday trading. Other commodities were mixed in the session as sugar and cotton rose but wheat and corn both fell by roughly 1% on the day. This commodity weakness came despite a slightly weaker dollar which suggested that investors were continuing to flee commodity markets as a safe haven and taking their chances with riskier stocks instead. [click to continue…]
Charles Schwab announced the latest addition to its ETF lineup today, launching the Schwab U.S. REIT ETF (SCHH) and Schwab U.S. Mid-Cap ETF (SCHM). The real estate fund will seek to replicate the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select REIT Index, the same index to which the SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF (RWR) is [...]
The first 29 days of November were relatively quiet from a product development perspective, with only a handful of new exchange-traded products hitting the market. But that all changed on the final day of the month, when iPath debuted a new breed of leveraged ETNs and newcomer VelocityShares rolled out six products linked to VIX-related [...]
Vanguard continued its blitz of new ETF products this week, rolling out an international counterpart to its ultra-popular real estate ETF (VNQ). The Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Index Fund began trading on Monday; the new fund is available in four different share classes, including ETF shares (VNQI). The fund will seek to replicate the [...]
As one of the primary causes of the recent financial crisis and economic downturn, real estate has been hit hard since 2008, with a variety of REITs struggling to find financing for new projects, tenants for old buildings, and the cash to pay for operations. While many names in this sector have plunged, others have [...]
After sinking to start the day, U.S. equity markets fought their way back to a near breakeven level in midday trading only to fall sharply in the last 90 minutes and finish Thursday modestly lower. The Nasdaq was relatively unscathed, losing just 0.3%, while the Dow and S&P 500 suffered more significant losses of 0.7% [...]
Bethesda, Maryland-based AdvisorShares announced today the launch of the Mars Hill Global Relative Value ETF (GRV), the second ETF product from the company. The new ETF will be actively-managed; instead of seeking to replicate the performance of a particular benchmark, GRV will attempt to generate consistent positive returns in excess of the average annual return [...]
Equity markets surged higher in Wednesday trading as optimism regarding financials, materials, and European companies sent markets soaring. The Dow was up by almost 3%, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both gained even more. Commodities also finished in positive territory, with gold falling just short of $1,200/oz. and oil surging ahead by close [...]
Equity markets dove sharply in Thursday trading as retailers and bankers led on the downside. This sharp drop led to a 145 point loss on the Dow with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both losing more than 1.6% as well. Gold and oil both sank marginally as investors fled to U.S. Treasuries. Mortgage rates [...]
Equity markets tumbled to close out the holiday-shortened week, as fears over a lack of private sector job creation and a possible continuation of the sovereign debt crisis in Hungary spooked investors. The major indexes were all down more than 3%, with the Nasdaq slumping by 3.6% on the day. In commodity markets, oil tumbled [...]
With many equity markets plunging around the globe, investors are flocking towards safe-haven investments. This flight to quality has left many investors piling into U.S. Treasury bonds and the U.S. dollar in general. This has helped to sink commodity prices and send T-Bill yields lower decreasing the desirability of each substantially as asset classes to [...]
