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…]
With snow now blanketing a big part of the country and 2012 just a few weeks away, looking back at the past year becomes a popular activity. For many portfolios, 2011 has been marked by big swings that seem to be leaving investors right about where they started; there has been plenty of activity over [...]
European markets struggled to gain much traction as Italian debt woes remain far from resolved, although the uncertainty surprisingly did not spill over onto Wall Street. Domestic equity indexes worked their way higher, bolstered by positive economic data and improving investor confidence in the U.S. economic recovery. The Nasdaq led the way higher with a [...]
UBS continued an aggressive expansion of its lineup of exchange-traded notes this week, debuting a product offering leveraged exposure to a hot corner of the technology sector. The launch of the ETRACS Monthly 2x Leveraged ISE Cloud Computing TR Index ETN (LSKY) comes exactly three months after First Trust debuted an ETF linked to the [...]
The last week was a welcome change of pace for investors, as markets generally cruised higher despite a lack of meaningful good news that traditionally accompanies such rallies. Attractive entry points finally drove some back into risky assets, though significant uncertainty remains over the outlook from here–especially with parts of Europe now precariously teetering on [...]
U.S. equities got off to a rough start this week, opening lower and managing to climb out of the hole only in the final hours of trading. Fears of Greece defaulting are permeating every corner of the financial market as investor uncertainty continues to remain elevated and a lack of action from European lawmakers is [...]
Global equity markets went on a wild ride during the month of August, and judging from September’s roaring start, many investors are probably scratching their heads in disbelief. At home, economic data indicators have started to show a trend of deceleration,while the debt crisis overseas seems to dominate headlines and spark sell-offs of all sorts [...]
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 [...]
Investors poured into U.S. Treasuries last week as far worse than expected economic data from the manufacturing and housing sectors sent waves of anxiety through equity markets both in the U.S. and abroad. Surprisingly enough, amidst all the chaos even gold failed to climb much higher and the precious metal closed just above $1,540 for [...]
U.S. equity markets started the week on a high note as all three of the major indexes surged higher despite ongoing concerns over a variety of geopolitical events in emerging markets. The Dow roared higher by close to 110 points while the broader Nasdaq gained 1% and the S&P 500 rose by a more modest [...]
Last week saw the end of a year that was relatively kind to investor portfolios, as most major asset classes managed to post strong results in 2010. As the calendars flip to 2011, the outlook remains uncertain; lingering obstacles in the form of high unemployment and bloated debt loads certainly pose problems, but rapidly-expanding emerging [...]
