January 2010

Why ETFs are So Much Better Than Mutual Funds and Stocks

January 29, 2010

The benefits of ETFs over traditional investment vehicles like stocks and mutual funds have not gone unnoticed by investors and advisers alike. With inflows into ETFs exploding annually while hedge funds and other actively managed funds were brought back to earth during the financial meltdown, it’s worth considering just what makes ETFs so much better […]

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New ETF Review: Wildcatters Exploration & Production ETF

January 24, 2010

Jefferies has brought forth an ambitious Wildcatters Exploration & Production ETF that will likely provide investors with a unique niche opportunity to play the small cap energy sector in a diversified manner without having to pick stocks individually.  The can, however, expect more volatility than holding a broader market or large cap energy ETF. Name: […]

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2009 New ETFs – A Look Back at Performance

January 19, 2010

With hundreds of ETFs being launched annually, the inevitable question is whether we’re getting quantity over quality.  As such, it is instructive to review some new ETF launches from 2009 and how they’ve done to date since launch.  I’ve intentionally selected various sectors and strategies.  I’ve included ticker, launch date and performance relative to the […]

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Preferred ETF Delivers High Yield and Rally Simultaneously

January 14, 2010

The iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index ETF (PFF) has been delivering strong share price appreciation of late while delivering outsized dividend distributions.  Over the prior 1 month period, PFF is up 5% compared to a 3% return for the S&P500.  If utilizing Financials as a proxy, the ETF XLF is also up 5%, but […]

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Leveraged ETF Decay Explained

January 13, 2010

While the leveraged ETF can fill a need in the day trader’s arsenal or be utilized for a once in a blue moon trend trade, they are certainly not suitable investments for an investor with a time horizon any longer than a week.  Due to the decay in share price value that occurs as a […]

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Platinum ETF Begins Trading – Finally, the Real Thing

January 8, 2010

Investors can finally rejoice in the ability to invest in the first real Platinum ETF that will hold the underlying commodity and remove tracking error, solvency risk and other detriments that accompany exchange traded notes (ETNs) that cover platinum currently.  The existing ETNs tracking platinum relied on futures contracts, which often insert tracking error due […]

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Commodity ETF Inflows More than Doubled in 2009

January 6, 2010

Wednesday, the National Stock Exchange (NSX) announced that commodity ETF inflows totaled $30.1 billion in 2009, up from $13.4 billion in 2008.  This portends a trend of retail investors plowing money into commodities via ETFs given wider availability and constant bombardment from the media on the ever weakening US dollar and its impact on commodity […]

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ETF Returns for All Countries 2009

January 5, 2010

I’ve reprinted this from Darwin’s Finance, my other broad-based finance/investing blog.  Since this article covers all ETF returns for 2009, certainly relevant here: Following the most tumultuous investment environment many have seen in their life, it’s worth reviewing the 2009 stock market performance for equities globally. Interestingly, the US (ticker SPY) ended up toward the […]

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