Last month, the financials were the big winners; this month, it has been the commodities. So it should come of little surprise that some of the best performing ETFs over the past four weeks Four ETFs On Fire Right Now (KOL, GDX, UGA, RSX)
Last month, the financials were the big winners; this month, it has been the commodities. So it should come of little surprise that some of the best performing ETFs over the past four weeks Could The US Lose It’s AAA Rating? Profit With These ETF’S
An investor buys an idea and waits for that idea to materialize. It might take minutes, hours, days, sometimes even years for that idea to materialize. The longer the time frame, the more likely the idea will materialize profitably, according to an recent article in May/June 2009 issue CFA Institute Magazine.
After it cut its outlook on the United Kingdom’s triple-A credit rating to ‘negative’ from ’stable’, last week Standard & Poor’s raised worries that the United States could lose its "AAA" rating. On May 27, Moody’s Investors Service, another ratings agency, said the U.S. government’s AAA rating is stable despite the country’s swelling debt. But it did not completely rule out a downgrade. STOCKS NEWS US-Financial ETF Gets Put Ratio Spread
The September $9 put options in the Financial Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund (XLF.P) was the top favorite in the options market in morning trade. The ETF's shares fell 0.66 percent to $12.08. A total of 100,000 contracts traded in the September $9 strike along with 50,000 July $12 puts. The heavy volume appeared to be tied to a 1X2 ratio (diagonal) spread initiated by a buyer who purchased the July $12 strikes for a premium of 84 cents and sold the September $9 strikes for 35 cents and paid 14 cents for the trade, said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy. It looked like opening trades in both contracts, he said. If so, the investor is expecting the XLF to go below $12 but not a big move beyond that by July expiration.
Full Story: http://uk.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUKN036564120090603 Old Mutual Gives Notice: Five ETFs On The Way
In early May, Old Mutual filed for approval from the SEC to launch its own exchange-traded funds through the Old Mutual Global Trust.
Apparently that approval was granted, because just the other day the firm filed a registration statement for five ETFs, all of them tracking indexes provided by the FTSE Group.
The list includes the following: Where ETFs and Mutual Funds Collide
As the number of ETFs and ETF issuers grows at a breakneck pace and the focus of many products continues to narrow, it's a challenge to address methodology and liquidity when composing a portfolio. Simply comparing short-term performance among various ETF in any given sector often misses pitfalls such as liquidity and depth. Investors may find themselves paying up for a fast-moving ETF that looks good on paper but trades poorly in the open market.
One response to these difficulties has been the emergence of several ETF mutual funds. While the transparency and low fees offered by ETFs have drawn some investors away from mutual funds, Paul Frank, who manages the ETF Market Opportunity Fund(ETFOX Quote), believes that the transparency of ETFs and the guidance of mutual funds can be combined effectively in a complex marketplace. ‘Active’ ETFs: A Mixed Bag
Over the last several months, a number of actively-managed ETFs have been launched. These investment vehicles are essentially a hybrid of traditional mutual funds and ETFs, providing many of the benefits that have boosted the ETF industry (lower fees, greater transparency and flexibility, etc.), while implementing an active trading strategy in an attempt to outperform a market benchmark. While truly actively-managed ETFs (i.e., funds that permit managers discretion in trading) are a relatively new innovation, actively-managed ETFs have technically been around for some time, pioneered by PowerShares, which launched several funds in 2008.
Not Quite Active, Not Quite Passive
PowerShares' actively-managed ETFs are unlike traditional ETFs in that they do not attempt to track any type of benchmark. Rather, the composition of these funds is generally determined by a two-step process: Nine Basis Points With This ETF!
Pimco's launch should be a big wake-up call to ETF investors.
Has anyone noticed that Pimco, as of yesterday, is offering (now higher-yielding, lower-priced) short-term U.S. Treasuries at an expense ratio of 9 bps (0.09%)? Hougan notes that the new fund (NYSE Arca: TUZ) traded 300,000 shares on its first day, and I expect it'll be trading a lot more than that. Pimco's got BRAND in fixed income, and the forthcoming launch of six more ETFs (along with all sorts of other plans) indicates that it is just dipping its toes in the ETF market so far ... and is planning to jump into the pool in a big way (liquidity, transparency). Think Your Gold ETF Really Invests In Gold? Better Check The Small Print
Several analysts are bullish on gold right for reasons such as the threat of inflation or potential weakening of the dollar. However if you want to invest in gold ETFs be careful. Not all ETFs are created equal. According to Toni Straka from The Prudent Investor some ETFs hold paper contracts and claim no liability of the third party's management of the gold.
Does your favorite precious metals exchanged traded fund (ETF) or exchange traded commodity (ETC) really invest in bullion all time? Or does it rely on paper contracts where a third party poses a counter party risk to a varying degree? Not everything marketed as a way to safely invest in precious metals truly shines under the spotlight. Low-Risk Commodities Investing with ETFs
The new investments play off of Standard & Poor's Commodity Trends Indicator, or CTI, which bets on some commodity prices to rise and others to fall, depending on where the indicator's caretakers think a commodity is in its price cycle. So at some point, the indicator might call for holding futures contracts that will profit from corn prices rising (a "long" position), while at the same time it might call for selling short silver futures to bet on a drop in the metal's price. What Impact will GM’s Bankruptcy Have on Your ETF?
Funds with the Largest GM Stake
The top mutual fund holders of GM’s stock are all index mutual funds and index ETFs. The Dow DIAMONDS (NYSEArca: DIA) carries almost 7 million shares, the Vanguard 500 Index Fund (Nasdaq: VFINX) has 5.8 million shares and the SPDRs S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) owns 5.26 million shares. Because GM is a component of key stock benchmarks like the Standard & Poor’s 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average, index funds following these benchmarks have been forced to own the stock. What type of performance has that meant for investors? Gold reclaims $980 mark as dollar weakens (ETF: GLD)
Gold rose Tuesday, trading above $980 an ounce as the dollar fell to the lowest level against the euro in more than five months and lost ground against other major currencies, raising gold's investment appeal.
The dollar index (DXY), which measures the performance of the greenback against a basket of global currencies, declined for a fourth-straight session. US STOCKS-Wall St rises after pending home sales XHB gained 2 percent
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as key housing data provided further evidence the U.S. recession was abating.
The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.7 percent for that month from March, well above economists' average forecast of a 0.5 percent rise, according to a Reuters poll.
Shares of home builders increased after the data, as the Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction index .DJUSHB added 1.6 percent and the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB.P) gained 2 percent.
"This is our third monthly increase, and it really supports the bullish case," said Jim Awad, managing director at Zephyr Management in New York. Highlighting International Real Estate ETFs
We Americans live in interesting times. On the one hand, our new Camelot-like president has raised the hopes of millions. On the other hand, we’re in the most challenging economic environment of our generation. Two victims of the meltdown have been real estate and the dollar: real estate because of all the overvalued properties, the dollar because of government spending. This may lead you to disregard any investment containing the words “real” and “estate.” It may also lead you to think all investments are bad right now. Yet while the real estate market is suffering here, there can still be opportunity abroad.
Broad-based international real estate ETFs could continue to do well despite the stateside economic situation. iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Real Estate ex-US (IFGL) & SPDR Dow Jones Wilshire International Real Estate (RWX) are the most actively traded and both have done very well over the last several weeks. Strategies for Short Selling ETFs
Yesterday there was a short signal on IYT on the close. Unfortunately many brokers did not have shares available to borrow in order to get the short position off. How do you deal with such a situation?
There are a few solutions.
You can trade the inverse of the ETF. In IYT's case, there was no inverse so therefore this couldn't be done. But in most ETFs an inverse exists and within time more inverse ETFs will be coming to market. Benefit From Ultra ETFs’ Tracking Error
Ultra ETFs have become very popular, but can destroy your portfolio if you are not careful. Most of these seek to ‘double’ the daily movement of the underlying security or sector. The important word in this description is ‘daily’ not ‘double’; these are not long-term investment vehicles! It seems like this should not present a problem, but simple math will explain how “tracking error” will erode your equity in a choppy market. 
