Housing Market Infects Industrials ETFs
November 21, 2008 – Heavy equipment holders are selling their products at auction for less than expected, and items such as excavators, backhoes, or heavy construction machinery are being sold due to too much idle time. Sellers said they were... Continue Reading »

Manufacturing Contracts, Has ETFs Fluctuating
November 3, 2008 – Stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) are back-and-forth following a weak manufacturing reading this morning. The Institute for Supply Management said that its index fell to 38.9, the lowest reading in 26 years, says Ellen Simon... Continue Reading »

ETFs Give Investors Choices In Any Climate
November 1, 2008 – Exchange traded fund (ETF) investors can play defense with their fund choices by focusing on areas of the market that hold up better in a downturn than other sectors. Many market analysts believe we are in... Continue Reading »

Surprise Factory Order Drop Hurts Industrial ETFs
October 16, 2008 – A sharper-than-expected drop in factory activity had markets and exchange traded funds (ETFs) sinking lower this morning. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said business activity unexpectedly fell to -37.5 in October, from 3.8 in September, reports... Continue Reading »

Factory Orders Might Pinch Industrial ETFs
October 2, 2008 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) and stocks are down sharply this morning as more downbeat economic news trickled in on two fronts: factory orders and unemployment. Factory orders are down more than what had been forecast, by... Continue Reading »

Shift to Internet Advertising Could Be Hurting Media ETFs
September 26, 2008 – There seem to be few sectors and exchange traded funds (ETFs) that have managed to remain immune from the economic downturn. The latest is your local NBC affiliate. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker says the downturn... Continue Reading »

Bargain Hunters Descend on Hard-Hit ETF Sectors
September 25, 2008 – Many investors are holding off for a market turnaround before they get back in to exchange traded funds (ETFs) and assorted other securities. But some Wall Street players are already looking around to be the first... Continue Reading »

Caterpillar’s Sales in China Offset Slowdown in U.S., Benefits Industrial ETFs
August 28, 2008 – As we know, China is in the midst of a building boom that’s been digging up potential for a number of exchange traded funds (ETFs), and industrials are no exception. Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT)... Continue Reading »

Silver Takes Home the Gold When It Comes to Medals, But Not ETFs
August 25, 2008 – We know who took home medals at the Olympics, but did exchange traded funds (ETFs) come out a winner? The final tally for U.S. medals is 36 gold, 38 silver and 36 bronze. Not bad! Sorry Michael... Continue Reading »

When A Bear Is On The Loose, Don’t Give Up On Your ETFs
August 9, 2008 – Many stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) have taken a mauling from the bear market, and commodities ETFs are doing their best to fight it off, but they may stumble just from sheer exhaustion. Financials were... Continue Reading »

Caterpillar’s Earnings Give an Assist to Industrials ETFs
July 22, 2008 – It’s a win-win-win for the global building boom, Caterpillar and exchange traded funds (ETFs) that hold the heavy-equipment manufacturer. Caterpillar’s (CAT) second-quarter profit jumped 34%, handily dusting expectations, reports Daniel Lovering for the Associated Press. Much... Continue Reading »

Is There a Uranium ETF In the Future? Until Then, Exposure Can Be Had In Nuclear Funds
July 14, 2008 – The price of uranium has been ticking higher, making nuclear-focused exchange traded funds (ETFs) attractive. At the time, Richard Kang for Seeking Alpha wrote an article about the price increases last year, ways to get diversified... Continue Reading »

The Frontier Becomes More Vast With PowerShares’ ETF
July 9, 2008 – Invesco PowerShares announced the listing of its frontier countries exchange traded fund (ETF). The PowerShares MENA Frontier Countries Portfolio (PMNA) began trading this morning. The fund was designed to give access to the Middle East and... Continue Reading »

Can NBC’s Purchase Forecast Better Days for Industrial ETFs?
July 7, 2008 – NBC Universal is gearing up to purchase The Weather Channel and Weather.com, which might help exchange traded funds (ETFs) that count NBC’s parent company, GE (GE), as a top holding. The deal is to purchase... Continue Reading »

Quant ETFs Take You Outside The Box
June 14, 2008 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) that employ non-traditional strategies are capturing investors’ imaginations. By straying from tradition, the rules-based quant strategy ETF promises pumped up returns by hedging a portfolio or taking a directional bet on... Continue Reading »

Oil And Stocks Might Tell The Future Of The U.S. Dollar
May 28, 2008 – Can the future of the greenback be foretold by indicators such as crude oil, the stock market and exchange traded funds (ETFs)? The U.S. dollar has suffered the brunt of the latest credit meltdown, and... Continue Reading »

Global Infrastructure ETFs Could Build Up If Steel Will Level Off
May 19, 2008 – Infrastructure spending around the globe is booming, as developed nations are maintaining what they have while emerging countries are building up, meaning that those related exchange traded funds (ETFs) could rally both now and... Continue Reading »

Now Is It Time to Invest in Financial ETFs?
May 7, 2008 – Everyone’s looking for signs that the markets have rebounded and some stocks are at rock-bottom prices, but does that mean it’s a good idea to get in on financial stocks and exchange traded funds... Continue Reading »

Washington, Speculators and Supply and Demand All Affect Commodities and ETFs
April 27, 2008 – Commodities investors have had the great option of using exchange traded funds (ETFs) to get easy and efficient access in one single transaction. Now insiders are wondering if money-making commodities can continue their golden... Continue Reading »

Indexes Cover African Economies - Could ETFs Be Far Behind?
April 12, 2008 – Africa could soon be a player within the exchange traded fund (ETF) market. Standard & Poor’s Indexes has launched three new indexes and benchmarks spanning the continent. HedgeWeek gives the rundown: S&P Pan Africa... Continue Reading »

Vanguard Wants to Put Its Arms Around the World With New ETF
April 3, 2008 – On the heels of iShares‘ new all-world exchange traded fund (ETF), Vanguard is trying to enter the fray with its own similar kind of fund. They’ve registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for... Continue Reading »

Turkey’s ETF Heavy In Its Untested Financial System
April 1, 2008 – The brand-new exchange traded fund (ETF) iShares MSCI Turkey Fund (TUR) has a heavy weighting in its relatively unproven financial sector. Gary Gordon for ETF Expert mentions a recent report done by the International... Continue Reading »

Worldwide Growth Can Build Up Demand for Industrial ETFs
March 30, 2008 – The PowerShares FTSE RAFI Industrials Sector (PRFN) exchange traded fund (ETF) could benefit from optimism in the industrial sector down the line. How’s that? Many of the companies in this fund’s top holdings have... Continue Reading »

Market Volatility Has Unearthed Some ETF Buying Opportunities
March 10, 2008 – Research firm MarketGrader compiles the indexes that underly the Spa Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). MarketGrader’s latest fundamental research indicates that the U.S. market is largely oversold in the wake of volatility, reports ETF Express. Buy opportunities... Continue Reading »

The Dow Makes a Rare Component Change, ETFs Will Change Along With It
February 12, 2008 – It doesn’t happen often: Dow Jones announced they will be changing the composition of the Dow Jones industrial average, changing the exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track this index. Two component stocks will be replaced: Bank... Continue Reading »

Investors Pulling Billions Out Of ETFs
January 11, 2008 – January is the time for the State of the Union address; what about the state of the exchange traded funds (ETFs)? That state so far appears to be, in a word, rocky. Bob Pisani... Continue Reading »

ETFs Could Reap Rewards of Global Construction Demand
December 29, 2007 – The need for investment in infrastructure projects abroad could drive growth in construction and engineering related exchange traded funds (ETFs). David Bogoslaw at BusinessWeek points out that the economic growth in China and India has... Continue Reading »

Digging Deeper Into International Small Cap ETFs
December 21, 2007 – International small-cap exchange traded funds (ETFs) are the latest frontier that providers have captured. There are now five choices in this space and ETFs that have the same asset class are not always the... Continue Reading »

Which Infrastructure ETF Builds A Better Portfolio?
December 18, 2007 – There is a global trend with infrastructure investments, so which exchange traded fund (ETF) gives a better play? Last week iShares S&P Global Infrastructure ETF (IGF) debuted, giving investors another option besides the SPDR... Continue Reading »

France ETF du Jour
December 13, 2007 – French president Nicholas Sarkozy’s pro-business policies are now in effect, so are they faring well for the French-focused exchange traded fund (ETF)? iShares MSCI France Index (EWQ) is up 15.9% year-to-date and holds quite... Continue Reading »

Access To Chile ETF Granted
November 29, 2007 – This month, Barclays added another single-country exchange traded fund(ETF) to it’s growing family, iShares MSCI Chile Index Fund (ECH). It tracks the performance of the MSCI Chile Index which measures the broad based equity... Continue Reading »

Dow Theory Flashes A Bear For Diamonds Trust (DIA)
November 13, 2007 – The Dow Theory, one of Wall Street’s oldest tools used to decipher the longer-term direction of stock prices, is flashing a warning sign about stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs). The Dow Theory is... Continue Reading »

International ETF Options
September 13, 2007 – For exchange traded fund (ETF) investors interested in getting into global ETFs, the S&P Global 1200 reflects 70% of the value of the world’s publicly traded stocks. Although there isn’t an ETF that tracks... Continue Reading »

Country-rotation ETF (CRO) Selects the Countries
September 3, 2007 – Are you looking to invest internationally but can’t decide which exchange traded funds (ETFs) to choose? Why not pick an ETF that rotates its country holdings for you? That’s the job of the Claymore/Zacks... Continue Reading »

The History of Select Sector SPDRs ETFs
August 28, 2007 – Throughout all the releases of new exchange traded funds (ETFs) one core group of nine ETFs that have been around since 1998 are the Select Sector SPDRs. These ETFs track the different sectors of... Continue Reading »

Variable-rate Fund (VVR) Stabilizes after Huge Decline
August 22, 2007 – Some exchange traded funds (ETFs) that have dropped the most recently are now experiencing handsome rebounds. Closed-end fund Van Kampen Senior Income Trust (VVR) lost more than 25% in a matter of weeks because... Continue Reading »

Protect Your ETF Portfolio
August 9, 2007 – In unsteady market times such as these, exchange traded fund (ETF) investors tend to seek safer investment options. Many look to bond ETFs for security. "Megacap" stocks within ETFs also tend to be stable,... Continue Reading »

Industrials: The Catch-all Category for ETFs
July 30, 2007 – Some exchange traded funds (ETFs) can be difficult to define. For example, "industrials" represent companies that produce and distribute goods and services but don’t fall into a specific niche. Some big name examples include... Continue Reading »

General Electric News Could Brighten Some ETFs’ Performance
July 29, 2007 – Exchange traded funds (ETFs) that contain General Electric (GE) as their top holding might see a performance boost soon. GE recently announced it will invest $1.8 billion in energy-related orders in the Middle East.... Continue Reading »

Many Domestic and Global ETFs Hit All-time Highs as Dow Breaks Record
July 12, 2007 – Exchange traded fund (ETF) investors cheered from the sidelines today as the S&P’s 500 index and Dow Jones’ industrials soared to all-time highs today. Strong retail sales news helped give investors optimism regarding the... Continue Reading »

Malaysia ETF: Economy Proves Strong
June 23, 2007 – Malaysia’s economy and the exchange traded fund (ETF) that tracks it is on a growth spurt and doesn’t look to be topping out anytime before 2008. As Southeast Asia’s third largest country, growth should... Continue Reading »

Assets Keep on Going into ETFs
June 10, 2007 – State Street Global Advisors’ ETF (exchange traded fund) Snapshot for May shows assets in ETFs grew 4% to $480 billion.  Trang Ho of Investor’s Business Daily gives a breakdown of the major flows for... Continue Reading »

New ETF Launch Includes Active Strategy
May 5, 2007 – First Trust is close to launching new exchange traded funds (ETFs) based on AlphaDEX, an index strategy where stocks need to meet certain criteria in order to remain in the index. The value index... 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 »

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 »

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 »

ETFs - A Different Analytical Approach
January 25, 2007 – Michael Krause, President of AltaVista Independent Research, has an excellent exchange traded fund (ETF) service.  Recently he came out with some opinions regarding the evaluation of ETFs.  He raises some good questions and makes... 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 »

Wal-Mart Retail Sales Scare Rocks ETFs
November 27, 2006 – NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street had its worst day in more than four months Monday as the dollar weakened and concerns about the strength of the retail industry arose following a rare sales decline at... Continue Reading »

More Equal-Weighted ETFs
November 8, 2006 – Yesterday was the first trading day for the new Rydex exchange traded funds (ETFs).  The nine equal-weighted ETFs are based on the S&P Equal Weight Sector Indexes.  Stocks are divided equally, not by market... Continue Reading »

PowerShares ETFs Launched
October 13, 2006 – Eleven new exchange traded funds launched on the American Stock Exchange from Powershares.  These ETFs are based on Dynamic Intellidex indexes.  The new ETFs are as follows: PowerShares Dynamic MagniQuant Portfolio (PIQ)PowerShares Dynamic Banking Portfolio... Continue Reading »

Will The Dow Do It Next Week?
September 29, 2006 – With the Dow Jones industrials coming within a breath of hitting an all-time record high this week, investors have questions. Is this large-cap market rally for real this time? And, if so, what’s the easiest... Continue Reading »

New ETFs Busy This Week
September 22, 2006 – It is a busy week for new exchange traded fund offerings. Barclays aunched five new exchange traded funds today to add to their list of iShares.  The new ETFs are: iShares S&P Global Consumer Discretionary Sector (RXI) iShares... Continue Reading »