After a rather uneventful week, markets once again drifted into oblivion, straddling the flat line for most of the day. With little economic data, no corporate earnings, and a lack of headline-worthy news from Europe, trading volume has been razor-thin during this summer season. Analysts expect these depressed levels to continue for a while until there is some kind of a reversal, which some expect to be a rather big move. Investors will likely continue to play defensively until any developments are made, primarily by the Euro Zone and the Fed, and will have to endure the painstakingly boring summer slump [see also ETF Insider: Set Your Stops And Targets Tight]. [click to continue…]
In recent years interest in exposure to natural resources has surged, thanks perhaps in part to the ease of access afforded by the exchange-traded structure. While commodities have always been popular with active traders, they’ve caught on in recent years among those investors with a longer time horizon. The impressive performances turned in during a […]
ETF Securities, known for listing the world’s first physical gold ETF, debuted the first ever physically-backed precious metals ETF that focuses exclusively on silver, platinum, and palladium late last year. Since its inception in December 2011, WITE has accumulated just over $45 million in assets under management and trades on average over 10,000 shares daily, […]
Stock markets endured another choppy trading week as hope and anxiety over the Euro zone debt drama sparked rallies one day and sell-offs the next. The much anticipated summit in Brussels left investors with a plateful of good news to digest on Friday as European leaders agreed to closer fiscal ties, although the United Kingdom […]
Stocks have been drifting sideways all week as anxiety surrounding the upcoming European summit has proven to be an unavoidable cloud of uncertainty. Back and forth negotiations between European leaders have paved the way for choppy trading on both sides of the Atlantic ocean, although as a whole, volatility has been relatively low this week […]
Domestic equity indexes snapped out of their loosing streak last week as investor confidence in the markets improved after a robust start to the holiday shopping season. The bulls charged through Wall Street on Wednesday after a global central bank initiative to lower the cost of dollar funding through swap arrangements sent a wave of […]
The impressive pace of expansion in the ETF industry has been well documented; continuous product development has resulted in the launch of hundreds of products each year, and there are now more than 1,600 names in the ETF lineup. But while the depth of the ETF space has increased, the industry remains quite top-heavy; a […]
One of the biggest stories in the ETF world over the past few trading sessions has been the Gold SPDR (GLD) taking the top spot among most widely-held ETFs, finally surpassing SPY for the AUM crown. Yet, just as soon as this happened and gold hit $1,900/oz., investors saw a brutal sell-off in the precious […]
As the ETF industry has continued to expand, now with 1,300+ products to choose from, investors now have more ways than ever to make a play on their favorite market, sector, or region. One of the biggest advantages of ETFs over their mutual fund counterparts is their abundant liquidity; they can be traded intraday just […]
This week saw one of the worst strings of trading sessions in nearly a year as investors have grown increasingly worried that Congress will be unable to set aside their differences and come to terms on some sort of debt deal to avoid a default. If a deal is not passed soon, major credit rating […]
This week saw yet more back-and-forth trading as major equity indexes posted their best single day in over a year, coupled by losses in other trading sessions. Perhaps the biggest story of the week are the talks on the U.S. debt deal, which seem to be all words and no action. While Congressmen seemed optimistic […]
