Vanguard’s ETF Offers Canada
December 31, 2006 – Vanguard filed with the SEC to launch a new exchange traded fund (ETF).  This ETF is tied to the FTSE All-World ex-USA Index. Seeking Alpha states that the new ETF is different than most international... Continue Reading »

South Korean ETF-What Is It Holding?
December 31, 2006 – With Samsung (21%) as the biggest holding in the iShares MSCI South Korea Index (EWY) exchange traded fund (ETF), shareholders will be amazed to know that not only is Samsung one of the biggest... Continue Reading »

New Investment Strategy with Patent ETF
December 30, 2006 – There is a new exchange traded fund (ETF) that is testing a new investment strategy.  The Ocean Tomo Patent 300 (OTP) is a Claymore product that is a possible proxy for large-cap growth. Roger... Continue Reading »

ETF Components of S&P 500
December 30, 2006 – AltaVista Inependent Research reports on the outlook for S&P-based exchange traded funds (ETFs).  It’s quite interesting to look at the industries that comprise the S&P 500 and see how they did individually versus the overall... Continue Reading »

Top Performing ETFs for 2006
December 29, 2006 – Once again, global exchange traded funds (ETFs) were the top performers for 2006.  Booming economic growth in China helped push the China ETFs to the number one and two spots for the year.  iShares... Continue Reading »

2006 ETF Performance Report
December 29, 2006 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) ended the year with positive gains.  Domestic markets hit new highs, but the global equity markets were the winners.  While the Dow was up 16%, S&P 14% and Nasdaq 10%,... Continue Reading »

Sweden ETF Solid Like Economy
December 29, 2006 – One of the top performing exchange traded funds (ETFs) for 2006 is iShares MSCI Sweden Index (EWD). The fund is up 42% year-to-date and the country’s economy has grown 4.3% this year. In 2007,... Continue Reading »

Homebuilder ETF And Economy In A Slump
December 29, 2006 – Investors who own the SPDR Homebuilders (XHB) exchange traded fund (ETF) may be disappointed in the housing slump. In the third quarter the economy expanded a mere 2%, bogged down by the worst decline... Continue Reading »

Say “Happy New Year” To Your ETFs
December 28, 2006 – It’s time to wrap up another year and that also means thinking about your exchange traded funds (ETFs) and investments. PowerShares Dynamic Food and Beverage (PBJ) is up 1.0% this month, so why not... Continue Reading »

ProShares ETFs Deliver Surprise
December 28, 2006 – The Wall Street Journal reports ProShares exchange traded funds (ETFs) were handed capital gains distributions last week. Ian Salisbury wrote the distributions ranged from $3.80 per share to $6.80 a share on fund holdings.... Continue Reading »

Buybacks For An ETF
December 28, 2006 – PowerShares launched three new exchange traded funds (ETFs), one of which is PowerShares Buyback Achievers Portfolio (PKW).  It will play on the dramatic rise in stock buybacks. Buybacks tend to help boost stock prices... Continue Reading »

Oil ETF Slipping
December 27, 2006 – The oil exchange traded funds (ETFs) are slipping due to balmy weather across the U.S. The AP article states oil and natural gas prices fell Tuesday amid our mild weather. 2007 supply concerns are... Continue Reading »

WisdomTree Bulks Up ETF Possibilities
December 27, 2006 – WisdomTree Investments is one step closer to becoming a world-class asset management company and leader within the exchange traded fund (ETF) market. WisdomTree has raised more than $56.4 million by issuing about 18.8 million... Continue Reading »

Attn: ETF Fans-The Lump Of Coal Awards For 2006
December 27, 2006 – Chuck Jaffe is one of the most humorous financial writers around, and he’s a huge fan of exchange traded funds (ETFs). This is Chuck’s 11th year giving out the Lump Of Coal Awards which... Continue Reading »

Looking Into 2007 For China ETFs
December 26, 2006 – Outside of those exchange traded funds (ETFs) that go short, China ETFs were the only ones in the positive column last week. Since 1990, China’s economy has been expanding rapidly, averaging an annual average... Continue Reading »

ETFs-It’s What’s Inside That Counts
December 26, 2006 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are a lot like books. Remember the saying "Don’t judge a book by its cover," which can be applied to so many instances? The Claymore/Sabrient Defender ETF (DEF) doesn’t provide... Continue Reading »

European ETFs Look Good For 2007
December 26, 2006 – Europe may be known for slow growth in 2006, but in the next year the region could outpace the U.S. and be an investment opportunity for exchange traded funds(ETFs).  Prospects look good with cheap... Continue Reading »

ETF Distributions For 2006
December 25, 2006 – Exchange traded fund (ETF) related press release states WisdomTree declared distributions for some of their ETFs. There were no long-term gains because the ETFs were only launched this year. Not all the ETFs had... Continue Reading »

Silver Bells - Silver Exchange Traded Fund (SLV)
December 25, 2006 – Middle East Business and Finance News points out that silver prices are hovering around $12.50 per ounce after having a 40% move to the upside in 2006. Global demand continue to be strong. Since the advent of... Continue Reading »

Can Transportation ETF Benefit From Holiday Rush?
December 25, 2006 – The transportation exchange traded fund (ETF) may be affected by whether or not you got your holiday packages out on time.  iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average (IYT) holds companies like United Parcel Service (UPS)... Continue Reading »

Wal-Mart Wants Fashionistas-Will This Help Retail ETF?
December 24, 2006 – If you have investments in the retail exchange traded fund (ETF) Retail HOLDRs (RTH), then Wal-Mart is a company you probably follow, considering it makes up 18% of the fund. Wal-Mart has been trying... Continue Reading »

Brazil ETF Ready for Consumers in New Year
December 24, 2006 – Commodities were the main support of 2006 for the Brazilian exchange traded fund (ETF).  The iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (EWZ) is up 37% year-to-date. Looking forward into 2007, economists believe consumerism will be... Continue Reading »

IPO ETFs Here To Stay
December 23, 2006 – Along with exchange traded funds (ETFs), 2006 was an opportune year for initial public offerings (IPOs). The amount of money raised jumped 19%, to $38 billion and through December 8, they gained 24%. BusinessWeek.com ... Continue Reading »

ETF Trends - MarketWatch Year-End Interview With Tom Lydon
December 23, 2006 – Lydon: Year-end good time to take stock of investments Tom Lydon of ETF Trends and Global Trends Investments says next week is a good time for investors to "take a peek" at their portfolios. He says... Continue Reading »

Swiss ETF Offers More Than Returns
December 23, 2006 – When investing in a Switzerland exchange traded fund (ETF), remember that you’re investing in stability. The country’s GDP is at a 3% crawl and is expected to fall to 2% next year. However, the... Continue Reading »

Emerging Markets ETFs Disaster Begins in Thailand
December 22, 2006 – The following occurrence is an example of why emerging markets exchange traded funds (ETFs) need intense monitoring. Thailand’s new government, which gained power only months ago, drove its country’s financial markets into utter chaos... Continue Reading »

Exit Strategy for Emerging Markets ETF
December 22, 2006 – What’s the exit strategy for your ETF (exchange traded fund) portfolio? As Jonathan Bernstein of ETF Zone illustrates, some of the best performing ETFs year-to-date are emerging market ETFs. These same funds gave back 20-40%... Continue Reading »

ETFs Haven’t Replaced Mutual Funds
December 22, 2006 – The mutual fund industry continued to thrive in 2006 despite rumors about exchange traded funds (ETFs) taking over possible investments. For 2006, lifecycle funds continued to grow, mergers took place and a few of... Continue Reading »

Three New PowerShares ETFs
December 21, 2006 – PowerShares Capital Management LLC is leading the Intelligent ETF Revolution with three new exchange traded funds (ETFs) launched on the American Stock Exchange. The ETFs are: PowerShares Dynamic Deep Value Portfolio (PVM) PowerShares Dynamic Aggressive... Continue Reading »

ETFs To The Tax Rescue
December 21, 2006 – Brett Arends of TheStreet.com gives some good advice on selling a stock for a gain and keeping exposure - buy an exchange traded fund (ETF). Investors in stocks, bonds or funds are looking at... Continue Reading »

International Real Estate ETF Has Arrived!
December 20, 2006 – Now that the housing market has cooled in the United States, why not invest in an exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the overseas real estate market? State Street Global Advisers is the... Continue Reading »

Oil ETFs Play Yin-Yang
December 20, 2006 – There are new exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the market that track the price of oil without investing in the actual commodity. Claymore Securities Inc. with partner MacroMarkets LLC listed two new ETFs on... Continue Reading »

Dividends with International SmallCap ETFs
December 20, 2006 – WisdomTree exchange traded funds (ETFs) base their weighting, not on market cap, but on dividends.  Recently the ETF provider launched small-cap dividend funds, including WisdomTree Europe SmallCap Dividend (DFE), WisdomTree International SmallCap Dividend (DLS)... Continue Reading »

Spain ETF on a Bull Run
December 20, 2006 – The iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund (EWP) has been one of the top exchange traded fund (ETF) performers of 2006. Economic growth in Europe and Spain is helping the Madrid stock market and the... Continue Reading »

Strong as Steel ETF
December 20, 2006 – The success of steel stocks and the exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track them have hit a bump in the road due to low steel prices, high inventory and high imports. Steel giant Nucor... Continue Reading »

Spin-Offs-The New ETF Breed
December 19, 2006 – The Claymore/Clear Spin-Off (CSD) is a new type of exchange traded fund (ETF) devoted to spin-off companies. Parent companies spin off a subsidiary to raise needed money and to shed a business that has... Continue Reading »

Potential in Small Companies with Stealth ETF
December 19, 2006 – The Claymore/Sabrient Stealth ETF (exchange traded fund) tries to find the best investments that haven’t caught Wall Street’s eye. Claymore/Sabrient Stealth (STH) is based on a theory that companies with undiscovered potential will produce... Continue Reading »

Rydex ETFs Issue Results, Not Capital Gains
December 19, 2006 – Rydex’s flagship exchange traded funds (ETFs) are officially not issuing any capital gains this year. Rydex Equal Weight ETF (RSP)  and Rydex Russell Top 50 ETF (XLG) have reduced their investor’s possibility of any... Continue Reading »

Shopping For Your Retail ETF
December 18, 2006 – Your retail exchange traded fund (ETF) may still come out ahead, as the holiday shopping season is proving to be encouraging. The 1% increase in consumer spending was far better than the anticipated .01%... Continue Reading »

Expense Ratios For ETFs Still Low
December 18, 2006 – 2006 was the year of the exchange traded fund (ETF). Industry wide assets crossed the $4 billion mark and the number of new funds rose from 204 last year to 349 to date. During... Continue Reading »

The Three C’s And Your China ETF
December 18, 2006 – It’s no secret China is an up and coming economy with plenty of potential for investors and their exchange traded funds (ETFs). Tony Sagami of Weiss Research Inc. believes there are three "C" ’s... Continue Reading »

ETF Where Investors Can Profit From Patents
December 17, 2006 – The Ocean Tomo 300 Patent Index has an corresponding exchange traded fund (ETF) that will be launched by Claymore very soon. Owning companies with valuable intellectual property may let investors profit from products as they... Continue Reading »

Closed End Funds Become ETFs
December 17, 2006 – First Trust Advisors will be making the move from closed end fund to exchange traded fund (ETF).  Shareholders voted to make First Trust Value Line Dividend Fund an ETF.  The fund was continually trading... Continue Reading »

ETF Trends in Clean Energy
December 16, 2006 – First Trust Advisors will launch an exchange traded fund (ETF) early next year, that will track the NASDAQ Clean Edge US Liquid Series Index. The index consists of companies shifting to cleaner energy. Bill... Continue Reading »

Commodity ETFs Add Shine
December 16, 2006 – Commodity exchange traded funds (ETFs) are making some portfolios shine. Gold, silver and oil have had successful histories and unique cycles. The streetTracks Gold Shares Fund (GLD) was the first ETF to track a... Continue Reading »

Currency ETFs Under Speculation
December 15, 2006 – Exposure to foreign currency is growing with exchange traded funds (ETFs) as investors are looking to profit from a declining dollar. David Hoffman of Investment News reports this strategy is considered risky by some... Continue Reading »

Gold ETF Law Suit Withdrawn
December 15, 2006 – Dave Ascani withdrew his suit claiming the World Gold Council stole his idea for a gold exchange traded fund (ETF). A day after the trial began in a New York Court, Ascani declared his... Continue Reading »

Emerging Markets ETFs Re-emerge
December 15, 2006 – Emerging markets exchange traded funds (ETFs) are beginning to re-emerge. Standard and Poor’s estimates emerging markets stocks gained 7.96% in November and will likely continue the upward trend. Among these ETFs, one of the... Continue Reading »

Eastern Europe ETFs, Anyone?
December 14, 2006 – Currently, the best way to invest in eastern Europe through exchange traded funds (ETFs) is with iShares MSCI Austria (EWO).  Austria has become the hub for Eastern European commerce and the fund is up... Continue Reading »

China Neighbors’ ETFs Provide Investment Opportunities
December 14, 2006 – There is nothing wrong with using exchange traded funds (ETFs) to invest in a growing market.  China is a big, growing, country and the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China (FXI) is up 60% for the year... Continue Reading »

Homebuilder ETF May Be Excellent Short
December 14, 2006 – Will the stock market, your exchange traded funds (ETFs), and the U.S. economy be able to  weather the housing market cool off? Prices have continued to decline, variable rate mortgages are now kicking in... Continue Reading »

Australian ETF - More Than a Commodity
December 13, 2006 – The iShares MSCI Australia (EWA) exchange traded fund (ETF) began the year slow, but has performed nicely, as it is up 27% for the year. Proving the critics wrong, Australia’s diverse economy is anything... Continue Reading »

Insider Buying For A Claymore ETF
December 13, 2006 – An exchange traded fund (ETF) that tracks an index of stocks with predominant insider buying sounds like a smart idea. Claymore/Sabrient Insider (NFO) is the first ETF that utilizes this theory. This is one of... Continue Reading »

Small-Cap ETFs Rally for Year-End?
December 13, 2006 – With the huge number of puts on small-cap exchange traded funds (ETFs), we could see a short rally going into the end of the year. Proof is with the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund... Continue Reading »

SEC Offer Better Communication For ETFs
December 12, 2006 – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been working on a rule in order to speed the approval of new exchange traded funds (ETFs). ETFs have a unique structure which don’t fit into investment... Continue Reading »

A Change for ETF Parent Barclay’s
December 12, 2006 – Barclay’s Global Investors manage 65 of the world’s 100 largest pension plans and is growing its assets under management with exchange traded funds (ETFs). Bank of America, currently the second-largest bank in the U.S.... Continue Reading »

ETF Dominated By Oil Demand
December 12, 2006 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are a way to harness the energy stocks. Energy is necessary in any economy, therefore making demand constant. Donald H. Gold in Investors Business Daily says almost every part of... Continue Reading »

ETF Wave Looks Swell
December 11, 2006 – The exchange traded fund (ETF) wave keeps building momentum. It peaked at $400 billion in November, with total assets around $407 billion, up 34.8% for the year. Where are investors are putting their money? ... Continue Reading »

Taking Advantage of ETFs for Lower Tax Liabilities
December 11, 2006 – Carl Delfield has some advice for investors on how to lower tax liabilities by converting to exchange traded funds (ETFs). It’s no secret that ETFs are flexible and transparent, so as an investor you... Continue Reading »

ETF History 101
December 11, 2006 – The growth in indexed products for exchange traded funds (ETFs) is a result of the immense success and popularity of these investment tools. Other reasons ETFs are doing well are broad diversification, low expense... Continue Reading »

Gold ETF Caught In Civil Battle
December 10, 2006 – The gold bullion exchange traded fund (ETF) has Dan Ascani feeling ripped off. streetTracks Gold Shares (GLD) has over $9 billion in assets and the two-year-old ETF is the object of this lawsuit. Ascani... Continue Reading »

ETFs Assets Continue to Rise
December 10, 2006 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are getting all the attention lately but mutual funds still pull in the most money. The U.S. mutual fund industry crossed the $10 trillion line in October. In comparison ETF... Continue Reading »

ETF Arbitrage Mechanism
December 9, 2006 – Efficient pricing is a main attraction of exchange traded funds (ETFs). Closed-end funds can trade at big discounts or premiums to their net asset values, yet ETF share prices closely track the value of... Continue Reading »

ProShares ETFs Surpass $2 Billion
December 9, 2006 – The ProShares family of exchange traded funds (ETFs) surpassed the $2 billion mark in assets. After six months of trading on the American Stock Exchange, the 12 ETFs have provided short and magnified exposure... Continue Reading »

Is the Largest ETF Provider (Barclays) On The Blocks?
December 8, 2006 – Ieva M. Augstums at the Associated Press just reported: "Shares of Barclays PLC rose more than 4 percent Friday after an investment analyst advised clients that Bank of America Corp. may be interested in bidding for the London-based... Continue Reading »

2006-The Year Of The ETF
December 8, 2006 – The year 2006 will be remembered as the time when indexing and the exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track them came through.  Looking back over the year, actively managed funds, bond funds and hedge... Continue Reading »

India ETNs and ETFs Arrive for the Holidays!
December 8, 2006 – Why not an India exchange traded fund (ETF)?  Finally, there is an exchange traded note (ETN), similar to an ETF for investors who want to seek India. Barclay’s is planning an ETN that will... Continue Reading »

Bond ETFs Set to Compete With Conventional Bond Funds
December 8, 2006 – Equity exchange traded funds (ETFs) are one of the up and coming investment strategies. Cost efficiency is the main attraction. With low annual expense ratios and hardly any capital gains exposure, ETFs can be... Continue Reading »

Rydex Equal Weight ETF
December 7, 2006 – Before exchange traded funds (ETFs) came along it was hard to offer indexes not based on market capitalization. Equal weighting is a way to give indexes more exposure to small stocks. Despite their size... Continue Reading »

Diversification in ETFs
December 7, 2006 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are designed to be diverse in a particular industry or region, however, some of them are heavily invested in one or a few stocks. In some instances, a single stock... Continue Reading »

WisdomTree ETFs Try Earnings Weightings
December 7, 2006 – WisdomTree Investments Inc. has exchange traded funds (ETFs) which use a strategy based on stock dividends. Now the firm is planning to branch out with a new strategy- indexes based on corporate earnings. The... Continue Reading »

Traditional Indexing-Old News For ETFs?
December 6, 2006 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are a good alternative to traditional index mutual funds. Bruce Bond of PowerShares Capital Management LLC, says it’s only the beginning for ETFs. He contends that traditional indexing is flawed... Continue Reading »

Currency ETFs Help With Falling Dollar
December 6, 2006 – Assets have doubled for the 15 exchange traded funds (ETFs) that focus on currency. This increase is due to the numerous currency funds hitting the market and the downslide of the dollar against other... Continue Reading »

ETFs Profit From Today’s Market
December 6, 2006 – Exchange traded fund (ETF) investors have profited from the "new paradigm". Since the end of 2003 the S&P 500 is up 26% and the U.S. price/earnings multiple has lowered from 17.5 to 15 times.... Continue Reading »

2006 Mutual Fund Distributions Set to Make Strong Case for ETFs
December 5, 2006 – Santa Claus is circling and about to drop some large year-end distributions on mutual fund shareholders.  Few fund companies have warned shareholders of what’s coming, but at first blush many of the largest and most... Continue Reading »

Using ETFs to Invest Internationally
December 5, 2006 – The easiest way to get broad, diversified exposure is to invest in an international exchange traded fund (ETF). Over the past year, about 40% of net cash flow has gone into international products and... Continue Reading »

PowerShares New ETFs
December 5, 2006 – PowerShares is launching five new exchange traded funds (ETFs). The PowerShares Financial Preferred Portfolio is the first ETF that gives investors access to a portfolio of preferred securities. The PowerShares Value Line Industry Rotation... Continue Reading »

ETFs Holding Gold
December 4, 2006 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) that hold gold were down on Friday, although the sliding dollar is helping to lift the value of the metal.  The value of bullion tends to move in the opposite... Continue Reading »

Basic Materials ETFs Solid
December 4, 2006 – Seven basic materials exchange traded funds (ETFs) have been launched this year, with six of them in the last three months. This is evidence that the sector is hot.  Juan Carlos Arancibia reports in... Continue Reading »

How Are The Japan ETFs Doing?
December 4, 2006 – Finally, there are more choices for investing in exchange traded funds(ETFs) for Japan. The two original Japan ETFs are iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund (EWJ) and the S&P/Topix 150 Fund (ITF). Both are trading... Continue Reading »

Relief For SSGA ETFs
December 3, 2006 – The SEC has exempted all of State Street Global Advisor’s exchange traded funds (ETFs) from investment limits imposed by the Investment Company Act of 1940. This relief permits investment by investment companies in excess... Continue Reading »

Biotech ETFs
December 3, 2006 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are the better choice for an investment in biotech. There is a lot of scientific jargon that biotech companies write in the annual reports, not to mention the financial statements... Continue Reading »

Malaysia ETF On The Rise
December 2, 2006 – The Malaysian exchange traded fund (ETF) is doing well as the Malaysian market and economy show strength.  A positive third quarter GDP growth rate and the fact that rates were left unchanged at 3.5%... Continue Reading »

Water ETF Is Calm
December 2, 2006 – The water theme for an exchange traded fund (ETF) has been catching on, but slowly. Could water be the next oil-a commodity with huge price appreciation potential, ponders Brett Steenbarger of Trading Markets.com.  The... Continue Reading »

Retail ETF Is In Season
December 1, 2006 – If you have a retail exchange traded fund (ETF), then you’ll be interested in the countdown to December 25th. Historically, "Black Friday" or the day after Thanksgiving, officially marks the holiday shopping season. The... Continue Reading »

November ETF Performance Report
December 1, 2006 – For November, the major U.S. market indexes posted gains between 2-3% for the month.  China and surrounding Asian countries outperformed all other global regions with advances of 7-12%.  metals, oil and natural resource ETFs... Continue Reading »

ETF Assets Up
December 1, 2006 – Assets in exchange traded funds (ETFs) rose by 9.4% in October, totaling $383.3 billion. ETFs are not only tax efficient and low cost, they conveniently trade like stocks and are doing quite well. Total... Continue Reading »