Big oil is turning its attention to Iraq once again. But this time, instead of fear and dread, oil companies are looking to the Gulf state with hope and optimism. In recent years, the Iraqi oil industry usually made the news for all the wrong reasons: sabotages of pipelines, bomb attacks at drilling sites, employee kidnappings, and government corruption. But U.S. and international oil firms are now focusing on the oil-rich nation as the site of expansion efforts that could prove to be very profitable.
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ETF BASIC NEWS
The controversy surrounding ultra long, ultra short and other leveraged ETFs has reached a fever pitch while the funds, particularly the Direxion Financial Bear 3x ETF(FAZ Quote) and Direxion Financial Bull 3x ETF(FAS Quote), continue to grow in trading volume.
While leveraged ETF funds are not a new phenomenon, they have hit the mainstream and have drawn the attention of regulatory agencies like FINRA and commentators asserting that investors should be protected against these products. Like all financial tools, the power of leveraged ETFs is truly in the hands of the investor, and the danger lies in an investor’s unwillingness or inability to understand them.
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ETF BASIC NEWS
We talk about ag futures and ETFs, we talk about investing in the fertilizer market, but there is another aspect to the supply chain in the agriculture market we haven’t touched on lately – the seed business. Unlike, say, gold and oil, where simply buying one or two companies gets you huge exposure to the entire supply chain, with ags, the chain is a lot more disjointed.
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ETF BASIC NEWS
Barclays Global Investors, N.A. (BGI), the world’s largest Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) provider(1), announced today that Markit Group has announced changes to the iBoxx® $ Liquid High Yield Index. Barclays Global Fund Advisors (BGFA) intends to continue to manage the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (NYSE Arca: HYG) so as to seek investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the U.S. dollar denominated high yield corporate bond market as defined by the iBoxx® $ Liquid High Yield Index. BGFA also intends to manage the Fund in a manner designed to minimize turnover and maximize cost- and tax-efficiencies.
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ETF BASIC NEWS
Asset flows into certain market sector ETFs illustrate that more and more investors are getting hip to their benefits and realizing the positive role they can serve in their portfolios.
ETFs are designed to mimic the index that they track, which also gives investors the flexibility to invest by single country or region, not just a particular industry. ETFs are also bought and sold throughout the day, so they have the ease of a single stock rather than closing once at the end of the trading day.
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ETF BASIC NEWS
Direxion, a pioneer in providing alternative investment strategies to sophisticated investors, announced today that it will execute a 1-for-2 reverse split of the shares of Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 3x Shares after the closing of the markets on Wednesday, June 24, 2009. MWN shares will begin trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. (NYSE Arca) on a split-adjusted basis on Thursday, June 25, 2009.
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ETF BASIC NEWS
Eight of the 10 exchange traded funds with the worst grades from TheSteet.com Ratings rise at twice the pace of their underlying indexes’ declines. Even this week’s dip in stocks hasn’t come close to bringing the funds into the black. But they could jump back quickly if equities extend their declines.
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ETF BASIC NEWS
FINRA- The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has urged caution to the financial industry on leveraged and inverse ETF’s. FINRA warned financial brokers and advisers about their responsibilities to retail investors on how these inverse and leveraged ETF’s are difficult to understand and are not meant to be held for long periods of time. Read more…
ETF BASIC NEWS, NYSE:FAS, NYSE:FAZ
Bob Pisani, from CNBC, spoke on this topic in a recent segment called “ETF-101.” Bob states that your investment is safe although there is a process in the dissolution of the fund. Following the closing announcement, the ETF trades for about a month. After that period, the ETF closes and all trading stops. At that point the fund company has a few weeks to liquidate Read more…
ETF BASIC NEWS
ProShares filed to launch an exchange-traded fund seeking to provide 300% of the daily returns of the S&P 500. Proshares also requested approval from the SEC for a new ETF that would give investors 300% short exposure of the index. The Funds are to trade as follows: ProShares UltraPro S&P500 Ticker: UPRO, ProShares UltraPro Short S&P500 Ticker: SPXU. Read more…
ETF BASIC NEWS, SPXU, UPRO
The Boston Options Exchange “BOX” will eliminate trading fees for three exchange traded funds “ETF’s”. They will eliminate the fees on three ETF’s in hopes to gain business in options trading for these funds. The three ETF’s are SPDR Trust Series (SPY), the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQQ) and the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM). Read more…
IWM, QQQQ, SPY
Are you an environmentally minded investor? According to Robert Kropp, writing for socialfunds.com, a family of indices will be launched by Markit, “a financial information services company, and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Based on data gathered by the CDP for its annual Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), the indices are designed to help investors gain exposure to companies whose greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change strategies help them actively manage the impact of their business operations on the environment Read more…
ETF BASIC NEWS
Gold known for the safe investment as a hedge against inflation, may have gotten ahead of itself. Smart money has already exited the yellow metal and is waiting for a pullback. Better opportunities will lie ahead to revisit the investment. You can also play both sides of the trade with ETF’s. ETF’s offer a bull/bear trade for the metal. Read more…
ETF BASIC NEWS, NYSE:DZZ, NYSE:GLD
A new two in one defibrulator tool for synchronizing heart contractions slowed the progression of heart failure when implanted in patients with few or no symptoms, according to a study that could expand use of the devices. The devices reduced deaths and medical treatments for heart failure by 29 percent compared with standard defibrillators, Boston Scientific, said yesterday in a statement. Read more…
ETF BASIC NEWS, IHI, IYH
With Steve Jobs back in the office after his liver transplant, Apple investors have something to cheer about again. The PDA market continues to grow and the Apple iPhone continues to dominate and make headlines in that market. If you like Apple but don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket, we have some tech heavy ETF’s that have great Apple exposure. Read more…
ETF BASIC NEWS, IYW, QLD, QQQQ
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