Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits: Some of the best-performing exchange traded funds (ETFs) this year have been in the hot (and getting hotter) area of emerging markets. But is there any steam left in this rally?Although the pace may eventually slow down, Barron’s reports that emerging markets still have room left to grow in the long haul. And for the time being, they may be the place to hide out as developed markets still work toward normalcy. In the near-term, growth rates in developed nations are expected to be lackluster, and much less robust than those in the developing world’s.Complete Story »
Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits: October was largely a mixed month for stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs), marked by both encouraging high points and gloomy low ones. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finally crossed a milestone 10,000 points this month. Though the mark was greeted with cheers on the trading floor, it didn’t stay there for long, and ultimately closed the month below 10,000 and ended the month flat. The S&P 500 lost 2% and the Nasdaq fell 3.6%.Complete Story »
Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits: ETFs have been overshadowing their close relative, the ETN. Investors could be missing out on this nifty alternative investment vehicle.At the end of September, U.S.-listed ETNs held $6.9 billion in assets, compared with the $697 billion held in ETFs, writes Matt Hougan for IndexUniverse.Complete Story »
Ken Caruso/a> submits: At CGI Las Vegas I listened to presentation by John Del Vecchio from Ranger Alternatives. John manages the Ranger short book and has a strong background in accounting forensics. Specifically finding companies with low earnings quality before the market does and building “short” positions based on that information. In his presentation he referenced some stats from a Blackstar Funds paper on the Russell 3000 index between years 1983-2006.Complete Story »
David Hunkar submits: Aviva Plc (AV) and Banco Santander Brazil SA (BSBR) are two new ADRs that started trading on the New York Stock Exchange last month.1. Aviva Plc (AV):Complete Story »
Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits: Commodities are all the rage right now, to the point where there’s been talk of a bubble. But some feel that not only is there no bubble, but that commodity ETFs are poised to move even higher.As the commodity market sets up to appeal to investors, there are certain areas of the market to focus in on.Complete Story »
Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits: Does the waving wheat sure smell sweet? We’ll soon find out: All eyes are on Oklahoma now as the state gets the first state-focused ETF.Spade Oklahoma Index (NYSEArca: OOK) launched last week. The fund focuses in on a basket of companies that are domiciled in the state of Oklahoma. According to ETF Daily News, OOK will invest substantially all of its assets in the securities of companies that have their headquarters or principal place of business located in Oklahoma, or that generate a significant portion of their revenues in Oklahoma.Complete Story »
Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits: India has been a fast-growing market for the last few years, and Van Eck is hoping that a small-cap ETF it has in registration with give investors even more exposure to the nation.Van Eck has registered with the SEC for a new India small-cap ETF, reports Cinthia Murphy for IndexUniverse. The Market Vectors India Small-Cap ETF will seek to reflect the performance of the Market Vectors India Small-Cap Index. Potential investors should note that the fund will invest in the more volatile aspects of an already volatile equities market.Complete Story »
Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits: Global economies are growing fast and monetary policy in the United States is loose. These and other factors are fueling the rise of ETFs related to the oil industry.Low interest rates. The great increase in global money supply has fueled oil-intensive growth and consequently, pushed up oil crude prices, comments Martin Hutchinson for Money Morning. Many countries have kept interest rates low, and they don’t expect to change it anytime soon. More cars. China and India’s burgeoning auto industries are producing an expected 11 million and 2.5 million cars, respectively, while Brazil’s auto sales surged 20% in September. This translates into increased demand for oil. Weak U.S. dollar. The price of oil and the dollar historically have an inverse correlation; oil is priced in dollars, so as it weakens, oil becomes cheaper for foreigners. As the U.S. government takes on more debt, investors are predicting a further depreciation of the dollar. The economy. Some believe the worst is over, and oil will soon benefit from a more active economy with higher energy consumption, remarks Dave Mock for The Motley Fool. Scarcity. Oil bulls argue about a “peak oil,” where the peak of global oil production will finally be seen. Oil, like other commodities, is a finite resource. There are several ways to play oil. Some ETFs hold shares of major oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX). These companies range from oil exploration, to refining, to production. Examples include:Complete Story »
The Richmond Fed produced a report that provides some useful information on the issue of non-recourse mortgage loans and their default rates. The report includes a State-by-State breakdown of the rules for defaulting.This report was over my head. For example, the following calculation describes the probability of a short sale in a Recourse State:Complete Story »
Bruce Pile submits:Options are becoming more popular as a hedging tool against the next big turn of the market. The next big turn of the market is, more and more these days, what you have to figure out because these big turns are dragging nearly everything along for the ride either up or down. With options, you can limit the damage if the market turns hard the other way from your plan. But options are expensive and take a big chunk out of your rate of return. And they are priced per implied volatility and are thus priced per the VIX - the higher the VIX, the more expensive options become. We are probably going to have to live with the VIX on the historical high side for awhile, so that makes using options to try to get good returns no matter what the market does a very complicated and difficult thing.Well, put on your thinking cap and try this on for size. Why not just buy and hold gold stocks? It sounds too simple, but look at what gold stocks have done over a large variety of strong market disturbances - from deflation to inflation, from vicious bear to vicious bull:With gold either steady (as in the '30s) or rising (as in the '70s and now) gold stocks do well no matter what the market does - up, down, or flat. What complicated options strategy can average much better than that? It's a buy and hold stock strategy where you don't have to make a directional bet on the market, freeing you from a lot a dangerous and usually self defeating week to week trading. The investment jungle rarely offers this good of a deal. You just have to be right on gold being in a bear or bull market. Complete Story »
Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits: Brazil’s development in recent years has had a key positive side effect: a booming middle class. The growth of this segment could help drive consumption and, in turn, boost the country’s ETFs.Brazil is one step closer to joining the ranks of developed nations: its middle class is growing. For a country long divided between a small, wealthy elite and a vast army of have-nots, it’s a positive development that many believed was a long shot just a few years ago.Complete Story »
Calafia Beach Pundit submits: Recessions are painful, but they also are harbingers of better things to come. A recession happens when an economy is suddenly forced to change the way it operates—for example, to shift resources from overbuilt or overextended sectors to sectors that had been neglected. Recessions force changes in relative prices, so that unproductive resources can become productive again, and they force people to figure out new and more creative ways to do things to do in order to survive. Hardship is painful, but it can be beneficial. Here's what the co-owner of a large design/construction firm in the Pomona Valley specializing in home remodeling told me the other day (he's also the one who told me a month ago that he had just re-hired two architects that he laid off last year), in response to my sending him the above chart which suggests that the third quarter uptick in residential construction activity has probably ended the deepest recession ever to hit the industry:Complete Story »
