David Mazza

After several years of lagging their large-cap counterparts, smaller stocks broke out last year to offer significant out-performance of their larger rivals. For example, the Russell 2000 and the S&P SmallCap 600 Index returned 21.6 percent and 26.6 percent, respectively, in 2016 compared to a...

When it comes to fighting inflation, typical destinations for investors include Treasury Inflation Protection Securities (TIPS) and hard assets, such as gold or real estate. Investors can also fight inflation with equities, including cyclical plays from the natural resources segment. The SPDR S...

As has been well-documented, financial services sector has been thriving since Donald Trump's surprising victory in the November U.S. presidential election. Since November 9, the first trading day after Election Day, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLF), the largest exchange-traded...

Oil was one of 2016's best-performing commodities and that was, predictably, a boon for the energy sector and the relevant exchange-traded funds. The energy sector was the top group in the S&P 500 in 2016; the Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLE), the largest equity-based energy ETF...

The Federal Reserve's two-day meeting, its last of 2016, concludes Wednesday, and if the Fed funds futures market is accurate, it would be stunning if the U.S. central bank did raise interest rates. November was unkind to bonds and fixed-income exchange-traded funds. In fact, data suggest short...

Of the various hot trades within the fixed income universe this year, the influx of new money to Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, has been particularly noticeable. This year is something of a perfect storm for TIPS. Inflation is an increasingly important topic for the Federal...

So many new exchange-traded funds, so little time. That is a reasonable sentiment, as hundreds of new ETFs come to market every year. 2016 is no exception to that rule. Among this year's crop of new ETFs proving to be worth investors' time is the SPDR Series Trust SPDR SSGA Gender...

An old school complaint pertaining to exchange traded funds, specifically the equity-based variety, is that ETFs are unlikely to outperform the best-performing stock in their respective lineups over a year or longer holding periods. Naysayers responsible for proliferating that criticism often if...

With bond markets increasingly pricing in higher odds that the Federal Reserve will boost interest rates, it is not surprising that investors are departing corporate bond exchange-traded funds this quarter. In the current quarter, three of the six worst ETFs in terms of assets lost are corporate...

Many fixed income investments are viewed as conservative, but in today's potentially turbulent bond markets, it does not hurt to get some assistance. The SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF (NYSE: TOTL) is an exchange-traded fund that can do just that. Taking On TOTL TOTL, Jeff Gundlach...

Investors often hear about the virtues of portfolio diversification, but there are other avenues to diversity that can potentially generate positive outcomes. That includes gender diversity, a theme that can be accessed via the SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (NYSE: SHE). The SPDR SSGA Gender...

A frequent criticism of dividend exchange-traded funds this year is that some of these funds expose investors to expensive stocks by way of substantial allocations to defensive sectors such as consumer staples and utilities. Indeed, investors' thirst for yield and income coupled with still...

Foreign equities, even some hailing from developed markets, have a tendency to be more volatile than their U.S. counterparts. Combine that with the perception that global equity market volatility is high this year, and it is easy to understand why many investors are extending their preference for...

Buoyed by low interest rates and an (until recently) weaker dollar, gold has been one of this year's hottest assets. But with the SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD) up more than 27 percent year-to-date, some investors are probably wondering if it is too late to integrate bullion into their...

During the worst days of oil's most recent bull market, a cacophonous debate was heard. One side argued that energy equities were legitimate value plays while those bearish on the sector posited that the only reason price-to-earnings ratios in the energy patch were declining was because...