AdvisorShares, one of the largest issuers of actively-managed ETFs, has forged a partnership to bring an active sector rotation ETF to market. The new Rockledge SectorSAM ETF (SSAM), which began trading Thursday, will seek to generate stable and consistent returns in all market conditions, developing a dollar neutral portfolio comprised of sector ETFs. The new ETF will utilize the Sector Scoring and Allocation Methodology (“SSAM”), a technique based on a proprietary quantitative analysis model that forecasts the projected returns to various sectors of the U.S. economy. The ETF will establish long positions in sector ETFs that are expected to outperform the S&P 500 and short positions in those that are expected to underperform that benchmark. [click to continue…]
U.S. stocks markets continued their rally from yesterday’s final hour of trading as all of the major indexes put up modest gains in Wednesday trading. The Dow finished ahead by 1.2% while the broader indexes posted even better gains with 1.8% for the S&P 500 and 2.3% for the Nasdaq. Commodity markets also performed very [...]
Direxion continued the expansion of its already robust lineup of leveraged and inverse ETFs on Wednesday, debuting two pairs of 3x daily products along with an inverse fund offering short exposure to an index replicated by one of the most popular U.S. equity ETFs. The latest additions to the ETF lineup include:
Sector rotation techniques have been around for decades, a relatively simple strategy often used by investors seeking to capitalize on short-term mispricings in order to generate alpha. In its most basic form, sector rotation involves segmenting the equity universe by industry, and moving into and out of various sectors depending on relative attractiveness from a [...]
American equity markets finished the week on a high note as investors bought up securities ahead of the three day weekend. The Dow lead the other major indexes thanks to its 0.6% gain, followed by a 0.2% jump in the price of the S&P 500 and a 0.1% move higher in the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Commodity [...]
Over the past quarter, equity markets have soared despite low levels of economic growth in much of the developed world. Two of the biggest gainers during this time period have been the materials and commodity sectors, which have jumped due to a weak dollar and prospects of further shrinking in the greenback thanks to expectations [...]
The impressive rise of the ETF industry in recent years is often held out as evidence of an ongoing shift in investor preferences away from costly active management and towards low cost indexing. Investors frustrated with the inability of pricey mutual fund managers to consistently beat their benchmark have abandoned stock picking in favor of [...]
Recent weeks have highlighted the “new normal” in the investing world, as concerns of a debt crisis in Europe have rippled throughout the global economy. On Wall Street, developments in the streets of Athens and the German Bundestag have trumped more local economic indicators, as U.S. markets have taken their cues from across the pond [...]
As global equity markets plummeted in the final quarter of 2008 and first two months of 2009, many investors watched in horror as gains that were accrued over several years slipped away in a matter of months. With many major benchmarks falling by 50% or more, countless investors began to recalibrate retirement plans and risk [...]
The ETF industry continues to demonstrate impressive growth, both in assets and number of products. Already in 2010 more than 60 new ETFs have hit the market, putting this year on pace to shatter last year’s product development record. This surge in product offerings has led some to lament that the industry has reached (or [...]
Two months into 2010, hopes for a smooth, steady year for equity markets have already been dashed. After stumbling out of the gates as worries about the euro zone and the sustainability of China’s impressive growth, most equity markets bounced back in February, as rounds of solid economic data sparked renewed optimism in the U.S. [...]
