ETF Database

Thursday’s ETF To Watch: Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index Fund (IYK)

Jared Cummans — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:00:43 +0000

As earnings season draws to a close, investors will soon be forced to face international affairs head on. For the time being, earnings reports from companies like McDonald’s and other blue chip firms have done well to keep our minds off of the looming debt crisis that has been ailing the euro zone for quite some time. But before these issues are pulled out of the doldrums, there are still a few big name firms that will be reporting earnings this week that will more than likely dominate the market [see also The Ten Commandments of Commodity Investing]. Today will see the fourth quarter earnings results from Philip Morris International (PM). Philip Morris is an international cigarette and tobacco company that spun off of Altria Group (MO) in 2008. The firm is now home to a decent market share of the world’s tobacco sales. Though tobacco has become a more controversial product in the [...]

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Daily ETF Roundup: VXX Jumps On Greek Concerns, GLD Creeps Lower

Stoyan Bojinov — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:33:43 +0000

Stock markets had a whirlwind of a day as indexes fluctuated between gains and losses amidst the looming Greek debt negotiations, ultimately closing in shallow green territory. On the home front, the Nasdaq charged ahead, gaining 0.41% on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average just barely pulled off a win, settling 0.04% higher on the day. Crude oil prices were also quite volatile, hitting a high of $100.09 a barrel in the morning, only to settle lower near the $99 level as the trading session drew to a close [see also Doomsday Special: 7 Hard Asset Investments You Can Hold In Your Hand]. With no major economic data releases on the home front today, equity markets took cues from overseas. Switzerland’s unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3.1%, while Germany’s trade balance took a bit of a hit. The trade balance account for the exporting-behemoth came in at 12.9 billion [...]

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Global X Debuts First “Permanent ETF”

Michael Johnston — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:30:44 +0000

Global X announced today the launch of the Permanent ETF (PERM), a new fund that will offer one stop exposure to a number of core asset classes. The new ETF will be linked to the Solactive Permanent Index, a benchmark that includes three major asset classes: stocks, Treasuries, and precious metals. Each of those broad categories includes multiple layers; the equity component includes both domestic and international stocks, while the Treasuries allocation is split evenly between long-term and short-term securities. The precious metals allocation includes both gold and silver. At each rebalance, the underlying index will allocate 25% to each of stocks, short-term Treasuries, long-term Treasuries, and precious metals. The rough breakdown by asset class for PERM will be as follows: Asset Weight Physical Gold 20% Physical Silver 5% Long-Term Treasuries 25% Short-Term Treasuries 25% Large Cap U.S. Stocks 9% Small Cap U.S. Stocks 3% International Stocks 3% Natural Resources [...]

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February Edition Of ETF Edge Now Available

Stoyan Bojinov — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:00:20 +0000

The February 2012 edition of ETF Edge, the ETF newsletter available to ETFdb Pro subscribers, is now available. This edition takes a look back at the first month of trading in the new year. With financial markets off to a hot start in 2012, we recap some noteworthy developments in the industry, and also look forward to some exciting opportunities that the improving economic landscape may have to offer. Highlights from the February 2012 edition include: Actionable ETF Investment Ideas: Our team of analysts looks back on how our predictions from last month played out and makes several new forward-looking picks; one recommendation is defensive in anticipation of an equity market pullback, while our other two trade ideas are well positioned to benefit as investors’ confidence continues to improve. Coming & Going: In this section we cover all of the new ETPs that debuted last month, as well as discussing the investment [...]

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iShares: The Low Cost ETF Issuer?

Michael Johnston — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:44 +0000

With more than 40% of the U.S. market, iShares has long been the leader in the U.S. ETF industry. But in recent years the competition has been gaining ground, thanks in part to more cost efficient products. According to the ETF Industry Association, Vanguard led all ETF issuers with almost $36 billion in cash inflows last year, handily exceeding the $28.8 billion iShares took in. Much of the difference in inflows between the two was related to a small group of ETFs linked to identical indexes but distinguished by cost differentials; the cheaper Vanguard funds drew significantly more interest than competing iShares ETFs. The biggest differential related to the emerging markets ETFs offered [see also The Ten Commandments of Commodity Investing]: Ticker ETF Index Expense Ratio 2011 Flows VWO Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF MSCI Emerging Markets Index 0.22% $7,808 EEM iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund MSCI Emerging Markets [...]

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Wednesday’s ETF To Watch: Technology-Multimedia Networking ETF (IGN)

Jared Cummans — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:00:35 +0000

As earnings season comes to a close, investors have just a few more big name reports before another three month lull. So far, this most recent slew of earnings has been so-so, with a number of bellwether firms both meeting and missing their respective analyst targets. Many had hoped that a strong earnings season would help offset some of the volatility overseas but it seems that we will have to wait until next quarter for another chance at that goal. For now, we focus on the remaining firms that report at the tail end of this important stretch of the year [see also The Ten Commandments of Commodity Investing]. Today will see the second quarter earnings results from networking giant Cisco (CSCO). The company is best known for their routers and other associated products that are utilized by businesses and individuals alike. Last year at this time, investors were still horrified that Cisco would report another drab quarter [...]

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Daily ETF Roundup: GLD Pops On Greek Drama, UNG Turns Sour Again

Stoyan Bojinov — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:57:53 +0000

Stock markets ended the day in green territory as hopes for a Greek debt-deal outweighted the cloud of uncertainty hoovering over the final agreement. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average led the way higher, gaining 0.26% on the day, while the Nasdaq lagged behind, inching higher by just 0.07%. Gains were most abundant in the utilities sector, while the conglomerates slumped in shallow red territory as the trading session drew to a close [see Five New Features On ETFdb.com]. Optimism on the home front was bolstered by better-than-expected economic data; the latest job openings figure came in at 3.4 million, a solid increase from last month’s reading of 3.1 million. Consumer credit data also helped to restore confidence in the economic recovery; the latest report showed that U.S. consumer had increased their debt by a seasonally adjusted $19.3 billion, a slight drop-off from last month’s record $20.4 billion increase. [...]

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The Truth About Alternative Weighting Methodologies (And ETFs)

Michael Johnston — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:00:53 +0000

As indexes have been essentially transformed into investable assets in part because of surging interest in ETFs, many advisors and investors have begun to take a closer look at the details of the methodologies behind the construction and maintenance of these benchmarks. Cap weighting, where the largest weights are afforded to the largest companies, has remained by far the most popular option–thanks in no small part to the low costs and low maintenance requirements associated with this approach. But alternative weighting strategies have been growing in popularity as well, emerging as opportunities to generate excess returns by simply tweaking the manner in which weights are assigned to individual securities [see also The Ten Commandments of Commodity Investing]. There has been a significant amount of debate on the merits of these weighting methodologies, including at a panel last month at the Inside ETFs Conference presented by Index Universe. Many view the [...]

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First Ex-Japan Small Cap ETF Debuts

Michael Johnston — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:13 +0000

iShares continued its torrid pace of product development with yet another first-to-market ETF, rolling out a fund targeting small cap Asian stocks excluding Japan. The new iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index Fund (AXJS) is the first to specifically target small cap stocks in that geographic segment, though a handful of other exchange-traded products offer exposure to larger Asian companies while explicitly excluding Japan [see also Five New Features On ETFdb.com] . Under The Hood Linked to the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index, AXJS consists of more than 800 individual holdings from various developed and emerging markets. The largest country allocations go to Taiwan (21%), South Korea (20%), and China (17%), with Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia also represented in the underlying index. From a sector perspective, AXJS is pretty well balanced; no one corner of the market makes [...]

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Tuesday’s Chart To Watch: SPDR Gold Trust (GLD)

Stoyan Bojinov — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:00:10 +0000

Stocks drifted lower to start the week as resurfacing Euro zone debt woes brought back the bears. Domestic equity indexes retreated into red territory after European leaders put pressure on Greek lawmakers to meet and accept the conditions of the proposed $171 billion bailout. Investors were spooked as worries intensified after Greek leaders failed to reach a unified agreement, further delaying the ongoing debt drama. Uncertainty in equity markets overseas paved the way higher for the U.S. dollar in the currency markets; likewise, gold prices encountered selling pressures and settled near $1,720 an ounce for the day [see ETF Insider: Will Euro Woes Rain On The Bull's Parade?]. With no major economic data releases on the home front this week, investors will likely turn their attention back to developments in the debt burdened currency bloc. Gold prices have been quietly inching higher alongside equity markets these past few weeks, however, [...]

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ETF Database

Thursday’s ETF To Watch: Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index Fund (IYK)

Related Posts:

Daily ETF Roundup: VXX Jumps On Greek Concerns, GLD Creeps Lower

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Global X Debuts First “Permanent ETF”

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February Edition Of ETF Edge Now Available

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iShares: The Low Cost ETF Issuer?

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Wednesday’s ETF To Watch: Technology-Multimedia Networking ETF (IGN)

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Daily ETF Roundup: GLD Pops On Greek Drama, UNG Turns Sour Again

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The Truth About Alternative Weighting Methodologies (And ETFs)

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First Ex-Japan Small Cap ETF Debuts

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Tuesday’s Chart To Watch: SPDR Gold Trust (GLD)

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