ETF insights

The appeal and demand for investments that track international markets continues to grow, leading exchange traded fund (ETF) providers to continue their innovation and introduce new products.
Internationally themed ETFs, especially those that track emerging markets, are attractive because they offer diversification, a hedge against a weak U.S. dollar, exposure to economies which are expected to grow [...]

As global populations continue to multiply and manufacturing starts to expand in developing nations, the demand for electricity will likely follow.  With this in mind, it’s important to consider how and where nuclear energy fits in to meet this growing demand.  In fact, in the United States, nuclear energy is the second most common way to generate electricity, [...]

Joe Massman, President & CEO of The ETF Store, will be hosting a workshop titled “Examining Exchange Traded Vehicle Performance for 2010” on March 10th at iGlobal Forum’s ETFs Investing Summit 2010 in New York.  ETFs Investing Summit 2010 will take a closer look at the vast pool of investment opportunities in the field of [...]

(note:  this article was originally published at indexuniverse.com on 2/9/10)
Equity and bond-friendly secular declines in interest and inflation rates have given the investing masses license to stretch Markowitz’s Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) beyond its contextual foundations and to extrapolate investment practices bearing little relation.
Serial autocorrelation in prices (i.e., that prices tend to trend) and [...]

Fearing that the global economy is weaker than most expected, some investors have started to pull assets out of equities and turn to bonds.
Disappointing employment numbers in the United States and rising debt levels in Europe have many questioning whether the recent uptrend in equities is sustainable and has made bond exchange traded funds (ETFs) an [...]

(note:  this article was originally published at indexuniverse.com on 2/3/10)
All of the hand-wringing, all of the second (and triple) guessing and heated debate typically reserved for position entry points and security selection would have us believe that disproportionate shares of return potentials and risk management levers therein reside. But for a significant portion of most [...]

The recent launch of a platinum exchange traded fund (ETF) by ETF Securities has been the answer to many investors’ prayers for diversifying their precious metal holdings.
Last year, platinum rose a whopping 57% as investors rushed into precious metals due to fears of inflation and a falling dollar.  In addition, demand for platinum was bolstered by growth in [...]

Although many have suggested that the real estate markets have bottomed out, recent data which showed that new construction starts have dipped may suggest otherwise.
Some forces that were driving the housing markets, including low mortgage rates and attractive tax credits for first-time homebuyers, are likely to be overshadowed by increases in foreclosures and a weak [...]

As the appeal of international markets continues to draw investor dollars, Charles Schwab recently announced the launch of two new exchange traded funds (ETFs) which give exposure to overseas markets (Another way to play international markets).
The first is the Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF (SCHE), which carries an expense ratio of 0.35% and offers diversified [...]

As investors and financial advisors continue to educate themselves on the benefits that exchange traded funds (ETFs) can offer, the growing appeal of ETFs seems to be making its way into retirement plans.
Most recently, Ian Salisbury of the Wall Street Journal reported that BlackRock Inc., the largest ETF provider, estimates that investors hold nearly $2 billion [...]