February 2007 ETF Performance Report
February 28, 2007 – February ended the month on concerns a correction in the markets may be apon us.  Exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the mid-cap arena outperformed small- and large-caps, gaining about 2% for the month.  Asia... Continue Reading »

WisdomTree ETFs Under Scrutiny
February 28, 2007 – John Spence of Dow Jones Newswires reports WisdomTree Investments newest exchange traded funds (ETFs) look for companies with solid earnings, but the true test will be whether this attention-grabbing firm can itself deliver steady... Continue Reading »

Can Hedge Funds And ETFs Get Along?
February 28, 2007 – The Vanguard Group is encouraging hedge funds to invest in their exchange traded funds(ETFs). Five of the designated 30 salespeople who will market to institutional investors, which includes hedge funds. Analysts are already criticizing... Continue Reading »

Wednesday Market Opening Offers Relief For ETF Hangover
February 28, 2007 – ETF investors may be taking a sigh of relief this morning as world markets stabilize. Reuters reportes early this morning that "Wall Street is set to open up on Wednesday, recovering from the previous day’s frantic sell-off, after... Continue Reading »

Value Of An ETF
February 28, 2007 – Market values of exchange traded funds (ETFs) vary from the value of the stocks the fund owns because unlike a mutual fund, the price of an ETF isn’t set by measuring the value of... Continue Reading »

ETF Strategy For a Declining Market
February 27, 2007 – We saw the Dow fall over 500 points today only to make up some of the loss and closed down 416 points (or 3.3%); the biggest one day loss since September 2001.  The S&P 500 was... Continue Reading »

China Move Hits Asian ETFs
February 27, 2007 – Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) tracking Asia and Pacific regions traded lower today after Chinese markets dropped nearly 9% due to investors taking profit on speculation there may be a slowdown in the country’s booming... Continue Reading »

New ProShares/Russell ETFs
February 27, 2007 – ProShares launched 12 new exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the American Stock Exchange. The ETFs carry a 0.95% expense ratio and are geared toward short and magnified exposure to six benchmarked Russell indexes. Pete... Continue Reading »

First Trust And ISE Create ETFs
February 27, 2007 – A press release states The International Securities And Exchange (ISE) announced it has entered into an agreement with First Trust Advisors to create and list exchange traded funds (ETFs). They will list on three... Continue Reading »

Asian ETFs Performing
February 27, 2007 – As a whole, Asian markets continue to beat the S&P 500, with some weakness from China and Taiwan exchange traded funds(ETFs). This was mostly due to their closed markets last week for the Chinese... Continue Reading »

ETF Conference Highlights
February 26, 2007 – Many of the ETF industry experts have gathered at the Maximizing Market Returns with ETFs conference in Miami. (You can’t beat the weather….) This marks the first ETF only event in the U.S. this... Continue Reading »

Are ETFs Gimmicky?
February 26, 2007 – Jack Bogle, of The Vanguard Group, accused the exchange traded fund (ETF) industry of producing gimmicky funds with narrow sector focus, high intermediation costs and excessive turnover. Mark Armbruster wrote for The Wall Street... Continue Reading »

TRAKRs Tax Efficiency Beats ETFs
February 26, 2007 – There is an investment opportunity that gives a tax treatment with an edge over exchange traded funds (ETFs). TRAKRs are futures contracts but differ from the usual commodities contracts in that buyers don’t use... Continue Reading »

ETFs New and Exciting
February 26, 2007 – Two industry heavyweights spoke at Nisca’s 25th Annual Conference and Expo, mentioning exchange traded funds (ETFs) in their debate. Jack Bogle spoke of his dream for fund investors and Paul Haaga took aim at... Continue Reading »

Despite Political Problems, Korea (EWY) ETF Hits High
February 25, 2007 – The South Korean exchange traded fund (ETF) hit a year-to-date high as political conflicts get worked out. A December presidential election has left some time to get political wrinkles ironed out and South Korean... Continue Reading »

Nusbaum Rebutes ETF “Advice”
February 25, 2007 – Roger Nusbaum of TheStreet.com has a few clarifications for those  concerned about exchange traded fund (ETF) misinformation.  He feels this comes about by a fundamental lack of understanding of the product and the importance... Continue Reading »

Morningstar To Acquire S&P’s Fund Data
February 24, 2007 – Morningstar just made a strategic move to protect its dominance in mutual fund and exchange traded fund (ETF) research. Morningstar, a leading investment research provider and Standard and Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies,... Continue Reading »

ETFs Are In Style
February 24, 2007 – It seems now that everyone likes exchange traded funds (ETFs), there is a bit of caution thrown to the wind. ETF assets are at $422.5 billion, a 40.4% increase, and they are fully accepted... Continue Reading »

Gold ETF (GLD) Hits New YTD High as Gold Approaches $700 an Ounce
February 23, 2007 – Gold rallied to a fresh nine-month high on Friday, inching towards the key $700 an ounce level as investor interest in metals continues to increase. The StreetTracks Gold Trust ETF (GLD) is one of the purest way... Continue Reading »

Are Green ETFs The Future?
February 23, 2007 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are one step ahead of the environmentalists. XShares  and The Chicago Climate Exchange have grouped to offer the first ETF based on carbon emission credits in an effort to help... Continue Reading »

New Earnings-Weighted ETFs Coming
February 23, 2007 – WisdomTree will launch the first earnings-weighted exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the American Stock Exchange on Friday, February 23. The press release states there are six domestic weighted ETFs, making a complemtary family to... Continue Reading »

ETF Polluton?
February 22, 2007 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have proliferated in the past year but some insiders feel this has gone from ETF evolution to ETF pollution. If surging stocks take a rest, some of the specialty ETFs... Continue Reading »

The History Of XShares ETFs
February 22, 2007 – It’s no secret exchange traded funds (ETFs) are popular, spurring many fund companies to offer new and innovative products. XShares appears to be a new kid on the block, however, it turns out they’ve... Continue Reading »

Silver ETF Supporting Price Of Metals
February 21, 2007 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) investing in silver have continued to support the price of the metal. Since the launch 10 months ago, the impact on the silver market hasn’t been as solid as participants... Continue Reading »

E-Trade Evolves Global ETF Trading
February 21, 2007 – One day you might be able to trade foreign exchange traded funds (ETFs) online. Greg Morocroft of MarketWatch reports that as retail-investor demand for diversification, and access to more technology increases, E-Trade Financial Corp.... Continue Reading »

Securities Lendings-Revenue Generator for ETFs
February 20, 2007 – A dominant provider of exchange traded funds (ETFs), Barclay’s Global Investors, has started loaning out the stocks and bonds in its iShares ETF portfolios. Tom Lauricella for The Wall Street Journal writes that the... Continue Reading »

Niche ETFs: Peeling Back the Onion
February 20, 2007 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have shown they can track the indexes they follow, but is the trend in niche products taking away from investors’ returns? ETFs are designed to follow benchmarks but they don’t... Continue Reading »

NYSE Listing More ETFs
February 20, 2007 – The Barclay’s iShares family of exchange traded funds (ETFs) transferred their primary listings of 16 new funds from the American Stock Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange. This move furthers the NYSE Group... Continue Reading »

PowerShares to Launch Dollar ETFs
February 19, 2007 – Deutsche Bank and PowerShares announced the PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Bullish and the PowerShares U.S. Dollar Bearish exchange traded funds (ETFs) will list on the American Stock Exchange February 20. David Hoffman of InvestmentNews... Continue Reading »

What Will ETF Providers Think Of Next?
February 19, 2007 – There are about 300 new exchange traded funds (ETFs) in registration with the SEC right now. Some are new stock groupings and others are using alternative methods like short selling. There are 15 belonging... Continue Reading »

DGL - A Better Gold ETF?
February 18, 2007 – PowerShares DB Gold (DGL) may be an improvement for gold investing through exchange traded funds (ETFs). It’s different in that it owns no gold, creating its exposure through futures market, with most of its... Continue Reading »

What’s Inside That ETF?
February 18, 2007 – The exchange traded fund (ETF) has taken the investment world by storm. With the recent invention of such ETFs like the HealthShares Family, it is evident that providers are thinking of everything and anything... Continue Reading »

First Trust Launches Nasdaq ETFs
February 17, 2007 – First Trust Advisors launched two new exchange traded funds (ETFs) based on the NASDAQ 100 Index. The First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index Fund (QCLN) is made up of 46 stocks... Continue Reading »

PowerShares Adopts New ETF Index
February 17, 2007 – A recent press release states PowerShares Capital Management will continue to "lead the intelligent ETF (exchange traded funds) revolution". They have received rights from Dorsey, Wright and Associates to use the Dorsey Wright Technical... Continue Reading »

Comprehensive List of 2007 ETF Conferences Offer Great Opportunities
February 16, 2007 – The marketplace continues to witness an increase in the number of investors who rely on exchange traded funds (ETFs) to capture equity returns. Individual investors, financial advisors and institutional investors alike have all discovered... Continue Reading »

The Index Rage
February 16, 2007 – Indexes-the more askew from traditional weighting the better!? The crazy surge of exchange traded funds (ETFs) that divert from market capitalization have become all the rage. David Hoffman of InvestmentNews reports indexes that weigh... Continue Reading »

XShares And Elliot Wave Create ETFs Together
February 16, 2007 – XShares Advisors LLC, exchange traded fund (ETF) provider, announced it has joined in agreement with Elliot Wave International Inc. to create ETFs based on technical methods it has developed. Elliot Wave formulates and evaluates... Continue Reading »

Ultra Dow ETF Rises Past Market
February 15, 2007 – Carl Delfeld of Chartwell Advisors reports that ProShares Ultra Dow Jones (UXI) was the top ETF performer for the day (2/15/07), up 5.17%, as it moves 200% of the Dow. The iShares Health Care... Continue Reading »

Japan ETF Not To Be Overlooked
February 15, 2007 – Although the Japanese exchange traded funds (ETFs) did not perform as well as other markets across the globe, Carl Delfeld for ETF XRay writes that Japan still remains a world market.  Japan trades at... Continue Reading »

ETFs Get A+ In Performance Tracking
February 15, 2007 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) get straight A’s in performance tracking. ETFs listed in the U.S. saw low index tracking error in 2006, delivering returns fairly in line with their target benchmarks. John Spence of... Continue Reading »

ETFs-Actively Managed Coming Soon?
February 15, 2007 – According to a media report, The SEC may soon issue recommendations allowing the first actively-managed exchange traded fund (ETF). John Spence of Dow Jones NewsWires reports many industry insiders think ETFs as actively-managed... Continue Reading »

ETFs Trading For Free?
February 14, 2007 – Will exchange traded fund (ETF) trading be free one day? There is additional pressure to go the free route since Wells Fargo announced plans to offer customers 100 free stock trades a year, including... Continue Reading »

Chocolate ETF for Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2007 – It’s Valentine’s Day-time to decide if you want to pull out some money from those returns on your exchange traded funds (ETFs). Whether your wining and dining or giving gifts of sparkles and sweets,... Continue Reading »

China’s ETFs:Can They Survive The Bubble?
February 14, 2007 – China has left a lasting impression in many international portfolios, making up 10% of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and is the basis for popular exchange traded funds (ETFs) such as the iShares MSCI... Continue Reading »

ETF-Based Retirement Plan Launched
February 13, 2007 – A recent press release reported that National Planning Corporation (NPC) is launching a 401(k) retirement plan program with exchange traded funds (ETFs).  Designed for small and mid-sized companies the plan gives all participants access... Continue Reading »

Rydex Launches Japanese Yen ETF FXY
February 13, 2007 – In an effort to offer diversification beyond equities, fixed-income and cash, Rydex has launched another currency exchange traded fund (ETF) - Japanese yen. The CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY) started trading this week, the... Continue Reading »

Home Building ETFs Building Up
February 13, 2007 – Home building stocks were way down last year but exchange traded funds (ETFs) with this focus have been building themselves up. iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund (ITB) ended 2006 down 15%... Continue Reading »

Biotech Leads ETFs
February 12, 2007 – Carl Delfeld of Chartwell Advisors reports the top exchange traded fund (ETF) for the day (2/12/07) was the SPDR biotech ETF (XBI) which was up 2.55% and with oil declining about $2, the Claymore... Continue Reading »

Why Exotic ETFs Are Good
February 12, 2007 – It seems a new exchange traded fund (ETF) launches almost every time you turn around. As more products hit the market, the products keep changing to expose narrower-and weirder- market niches.  Marc Hogan... Continue Reading »

Real Estate ETF Proves Analysts Wrong
February 12, 2007 – Last month,the second best performing exchange traded fund (ETF) was iShares Cohen And Steers Realty Majors (ICF), with a 14.9% return.  It has come in second for the past three months with 22% in... Continue Reading »

Bogle Says, “ETFs Are Mutant Indexers”
February 12, 2007 – Vanguard index pioneer, Jack Bogle, called exchange traded funds (ETFs) "mutant" index funds in a recent Wall Street Journal article. Bogle does believe ETFs have an outstanding benefit: diversification. However, the fact that only... Continue Reading »

Mid-cap Stocks Good For ETFs
February 11, 2007 – Mid-cap exchange traded funds (ETFs) didn’t perform as well as large- and small-cap ETFs in 2006.  ETF Guide ponders, "Could this be the year that mid-caps outperform?"  Last year, the sector was up about... Continue Reading »

EWW Mexico ETF Rise With Elections
February 11, 2007 – The Mexican elections might be helping out the Mexico exchange traded fund (ETF).  iShares MSCI Mexico Fund (EWW) reached new highs this week and has been on a steady rise since mid-June.  Joanne Von... Continue Reading »

Base Metal ETFs
February 10, 2007 – More commodity exchange traded funds (ETFs) make investors wonder about the sectors within. Are they overlapping each other, giving the same exposure? Or are they giving investors a tool to reach only certain market... Continue Reading »

Tokyo Stock Exchange May Offer Precious Metals ETF
February 10, 2007 – A recent MarketWatch.com update reported the Tokyo Stock Exchange is studying a plan to offer exchange traded funds (ETFs) that are linked to the price of precious metals. The proposed ETFs would include gold,... Continue Reading »

ETFs Popularity Rises at Money Show
February 9, 2007 – I’m finishing up at the World Money Show here in Orlando, FL, where there are 12,000 registered attendees.  Most are individual investors who make their own investment decisions.  The number of exchange traded fund... Continue Reading »

First Trust ETF Conversion
February 9, 2007 – First Trust has filed with the SEC an order to reorganize the First Trust Value Line 100(FVL) into a new exchange traded fund (ETF).  The new symbol would be FTA. FTA is the Value... Continue Reading »

Financial ETFs Benefit From Fed?
February 9, 2007 – The Federal Reserve spoke on interest rates last week, leaving the outlook for financial sector exchange traded funds (ETFs) looking positive. Short-term rates remain unchanged at 5.25% and the Federal Open-Markets Committee signaled happiness... Continue Reading »

Goldman Sachs Selling ETF Based Indexes
February 8, 2007 – Goldman Sachs announced they’re selling the widely tracked commodity index, and two stock-benchmark families, which form the basis of exchange traded funds (ETFs) to Standard and Poor’s.  John Spence of MarketWatch.com reports S&P is... Continue Reading »

XShares ETFs Going Green with Emission Credits
February 8, 2007 – XShares Advisors came to an agreement with the Chicago Climate Exchange to develop exchange traded funds (ETFs) based on carbon emission credits. Aaron Siegal of Investment News reports these credits allow firms and other... Continue Reading »

U.S. ETFs Assets Rise In January
February 8, 2007 – In January alone, assets of U.S. listed exchange traded funds (ETFs) rose about $5 billion, or 1.1%, to $422 billion.  Reuters reported 28 new ETFs were launched during the month, bringing the new total... Continue Reading »

In Defense Of ETF-Only Portfolios
February 7, 2007 – As exchange traded funds (ETFs) have proliferated, it has become common to build entire portfolios around them. Investors are picking them up as they are cheaper than mutual funds and have tax advantages. Eleanor... Continue Reading »

ETF To Focus Solely On Russia
February 7, 2007 – Investors will now have a way of reaching the emerging market of Russia via a Van Eck exchange traded fund (ETF). This will be the first ETF that aims at Russia alone. The Russian... Continue Reading »

GII ETF A Utility Fund?
February 7, 2007 – State Street recently launched an exchange traded fund (ETF) tracking infrastructure, the SPDR/FTSE Macquarie Global Infrastructure 100 (GII).  Roger Nusbaum in TheStreet.com analyzed the fund and questions whether the ETF is an infrastructure or... Continue Reading »

Gold and Silver ETFs Remain Precious
February 6, 2007 – Gene Arensberg of Resource Investor reports that positive liquidity has returned to gold and silver exchange traded funds (ETFs). Over the past week more wealth has been entering the funds than leaving. Gold holdings... Continue Reading »

New Unique ETFs Launching Daily
February 6, 2007 – ProShares expanded their number of exchange traded funds (ETFs) last week, with the launch of 22 new funds. Murray Coleman of MarketWatch.com reports half the ETFs should double on a daily basis the... Continue Reading »

A Closer Look At Dividend ETFs
February 6, 2007 – There are a variety of dividend exchange traded funds (ETFs) available however, risk and return objectives vary. Dividend ETFs perform differently since they track indexes from different providers and some may be concentrated in... Continue Reading »

Transportation ETF IYT Moving On
February 5, 2007 – The iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average (IYT) exchange traded fund (ETF) has reached new highs recently and is up this year 9.8%.  In an environment in which the price of oil has dropped 29%... Continue Reading »

Super Bowl Sunday And Your ETFs
February 5, 2007 – Many fans feel anguish over Super Bowl Sunday, but as an investor you can rest easier knowing your money and exchange traded funds (ETFs) may reap points. Although it is "just a game" there... Continue Reading »

A New Era For ETFs
February 5, 2007 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) and index funds are changing right before us, and the new generation of funds have evolved into a different investment vehicle. Before, the idea was a hands-off approach, while the... Continue Reading »

Arguement for ETFs in 401K Plans
February 4, 2007 – The time has come-exchange traded funds (ETFs) have begun making inroads into 401K retirement plans. The growth potential for these funds has gone off the charts but skeptics don’t believe ETFs should be used... Continue Reading »

Diversified ETFs
February 4, 2007 – Richard Widows of TheStreet.com helps identify 10 of the most diversified exchange traded funds (ETFs). The funds are measured by full exposure to all major sectors, including, basic materials, capital goods, communications services, consumer... Continue Reading »

Comparing ETFs To Other Funds
February 3, 2007 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) offer a balance between open and closed-end funds. Alan R. Elliot of Investor’s Business Daily adds that ETFs include a legal mechanism through which the ETF market makers can create... Continue Reading »

Why We Love ETFs
February 3, 2007 – According to the Dow Jones Newswires press release assets in exchange traded funds (ETFs) rose 40% to $422.5 billion at the end of last year from $300.8 billion in December 2005. There were a... Continue Reading »

How Correlation Relates To ETFs
February 2, 2007 – Investors who have exchange traded funds (ETFs) focused internationally should note the correlation between major world regional stock markets and the broad U.S. market. Richard Shaw of Seeking Alpha writes that assembling assets with... Continue Reading »

XShares Receives Funding For ETFs
February 2, 2007 – XShares, the company that released the HealthShares family of exchange traded funds(ETFs), announced they have received an additional round of financing. The $10 million round is from Grail Partners, LLC, a merchant bank specializing... Continue Reading »

ProShares Adds More ETFs to Pot
February 2, 2007 – ProShares launched 22 new exchange traded funds (ETFs) that offer magnified and short exposure to selected Dow Jones U.S. sector indexes.  These new funds offer investors more choice in the ETF market.  The new... Continue Reading »

Liquid Real Estate Index Turned ETF?
February 1, 2007 – For those investors who need liquidity and want to invest in real estate, there could be a new exchange traded fund (ETF) coming soon.  Standard and Poor’s latest index, S&P Global Property 40 Index,... Continue Reading »

Huge Increase in ETF Trends Viewers
February 1, 2007 – Some are wondering if exchange traded funds (ETFs) might be a passing fad.  If the visitor traffic experienced by ETFtrends.com is any indication, there seems to be little doubt that ETFs continue to grow... Continue Reading »

“Spider” ETF Lowers Expense Ratio
February 1, 2007 – Our nation’s largest exchange traded fund (ETF), the SPDR Trust (SPY) which tracks the S&P 500 index, is lowering its expense ratio. Beginning February 1, ordinary expense ratios of the ETF, net of a... Continue Reading »