August 2010

Collar Fund Review: Do Options Collars Fit The Bill?

August 29, 2010

In an era of an ETF or mutual fund for every idea or investment theme one can conjure up, one such fund focusing on capitalizing on uncertain market direction is the Collar Fund (symbol COLLX).  For those unfamiliar with the options collar strategy, it is a case where one simultaneously buys a put option and […]

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20 Insanely Hot ETFs in a Down Stock Market

August 25, 2010

With the S&P500 cratering (uh-oh, we hit the dreaded Hindenurg Omen) and investors flooding to the (percieved) safety of Treasuries in droves, the thing that differentiates this market from the carnage of 2008 and 2009 is that there IS now some decent delinking of asset classes.  During the 2008-2009 crash, ALL asset classes but Treasuries […]

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New Alerian MLP ETF: High Yield, Beats the Market and No Messy Tax Forms

August 25, 2010

Today hailed the launch of the first MLP ETF (Master Limited Partnerships) which have been crushing the S&P500 this year from a capital appreciation and yield standpoint.  For the uninitiated, MLPs are publicly traded companies that are structured as partnerships such that they must distribute the majority of their profits, but in turn, they are […]

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6 Hottest ETFs of the Week

August 22, 2010

With broad market indices showing a moderate loss of less than 1% on the week, it’s starting to look as though the next bubble may be in the Bond Market (Bloomberg).  We did survive the first week out of the Hindenburg Omen intact, but with investors continuing to flood into bonds, if and when that […]

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4 Dividend ETFs Beating the S&P500 in 2010

August 18, 2010

Dividend ETFs are beating the S&P500 handily and it appears as though they have the propensity to do so into the foreseeable future.  There are some interesting happenings in both the broader market as well as the fixed-income space.  Treasuries continue to break new lows leaving investors scratching their heads as to whether we’re truly […]

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6 Hottest ETFs of the Week

August 15, 2010

It was a rough week for equities this week, falling 4%, as the bad news continues to pile up with little end in sight for the slow growth, stagnant unemployment picture.  There were some interesting data points out this week, including a surprisingly high savings rate in the US, the notion that consumers are using […]

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6 Ways to Protect Your Assets from Impending Deflation

August 5, 2010

There’s more talk now about an impending deflationary period than we’ve heard in several years and the thing about this churn is that even if we don’t truly experience textbook extensive deflation, the sentiment alone could easily drive investors in droves into assets that perform well during periods of deflation.  For the uninitiated, think of […]

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Can REIT ETFs Conitnue to Dominate?

August 3, 2010

Real estate’s really been an amazing story in 2010.  The sector has been both volatile and profitable in the face of massive legislative overhauls, credit and liquidity crises, stubborn unemployment numbers, record low mortgage rates and a housing glut.  Bond King Bill Gross recently declared that real estate would beat stocks and bonds and Real […]

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