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 the last 11 months, but little to show for it in way of returns.
Like many others, we put forth a list of actionable ETF ideas that we believed were positioned to perform well in 2011 at the end of last year, laying out the investment thesis behind 11 exchange-traded products that we thought would thrive this year. With 2011 coming to a close, it’s time to take a look back at our predictions for this year, noting some big wins and lamenting a few calls [see 11 Rapid Fire ETF Ideas For 2011]: [click to continue…]
Euphoria was quick to evaporate from the markets last week as investors fretted over ongoing uncertainty in the Euro zone. Selling pressures prevailed across equity markets as lawmakers have yet to outline a comprehensive plan of action for restoring stability to the debt burdened currency bloc. Gold futures tanked as investors took profits in the [...]
Investors can’t seem to catch a break this week as sentiment continues to sway from fearful to hopeful, paving the way for profit taking and choppy trading across all markets. The spotlight remains fixated on the debt burdened Euro zone and investors worries continue to overshadow the encouraging economic data releases at home. Positive news [...]
Resurfacing Italian debt woes paved the way for persistent volatility in the markets last week, further deteriorating the economic outlook of the financially fragile currency bloc. Selling pressures overwhelmed the bulls on Wall Street, despite a host of better-than-expected economic data releases on the home front, including surprisingly strong retail sales, new home starts, industrial [...]
Inflation has been a particularly frustrating topic in recent months. Despite widespread predictions for a surge in CPI in the wake of unprecedented injections of liquidity into global financial markets, upward pressure on prices has not yet materialized–at least not in many developed markets. The prospect of what seems to be an inevitable outcome has [...]
Wall Street got off to a quiet start yesterday as investors were reluctant to aggressively jump back on board following last week’s volatile trading across both equity and commodity markets. Domestic indexes fluctuated between small gains and losses during trading hours on Monday, while overseas European shares tumbled lower after investor confidence sank following news [...]
ETF assets climbed to a new all time record in April according to the latest data from the National Stock Exchange, with a total of $1.14 trillion in more than 1,200 products at the end of last month. Total assets grew by more than 5% on the month, thanks to stellar performances from equities and [...]
IndexIQ rolled out the latest ETF offering exposure to oil companies today, debuting the IQ Global Oil Small Cap ETF (IOIL). The new ETF will be the first exchange-traded product to offer exposure to global small cap companies engaged in the oil sector, including areas of exploration and production, refining and marketing, and equipment, services [...]
Wall Street started the trading week on an upbeat note after news of Osama bin Laden’s death on Sunday night sparked optimism in the dollar and pushed overseas markets broadly higher. Speculators were quick to sell gold, silver, and oil in the futures market overnight, but the reaction was overdone and the three hot commodities [...]
Wall Street soared higher yesterday, thanks in part to a broad rally in the tech sector fueled by positive earnings reports from industry leaders. Investors were happy to see existing-home sales climb just past expectations for March and U.S. construction data also showed a better-than-expected increase in new building permits. Intel reported stellar earnings and [...]
The first quarter of 2011 is officially in the books, and the last three months have been a stretch marked by instability both domestically and abroad. Significant uncertainty remains, as investors are still divided on the outlook for interest rates, further stimulus measures, and the ability of emerging markets to continue driving global GDP growth. [...]
