David Mazza

At the halfway point of 2016, it is starting to sound like a broken record, but advisors and investors are enthralled by fixed income exchange-traded funds. Year-to-date, four of the top 10 asset-gathering ETFs are bond funds and investors are pouring into plenty of others that are outside the top...

A simplistic view would be to say the Utilities SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLU) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLE) are impressing this year. So is the Materials Select Sector SDPR (NYSE: XLB). Beyond that, there is not a lot to brag about among the major sector exchange-traded funds. The...

Many of this year's new exchange-traded funds have been slow out of the gates, with only two truly impressing from an asset-gathering prospective. However, at a time when investors are pouring billions in fresh capital into fixed income funds, some rookie bond ETFs are off to solid starts....

Well-documented is the fact that preferred stocks and the corresponding exchange-traded funds are among the beneficiaries of the Federal Reserve's lower for longer interest rate policy. It is also well-known that higher yielding asset classes, including preferred stocks, are seen as vulnerable...

The SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD), the world's largest exchange-traded fund backed by physical holdings of gold, is up 15.3 percent this year. GLD is also one of this year's top ETFs in terms of new assets added. How's Gold Doing? However, some of the air has come out of the gold trade...

Many investors view bonds, particularly U.S. government debt and municipal bonds, as less than exciting. But boring has been beautiful in the fixed income world this year, as the Federal Reserve has consistently held off on raising interest rates. Of course, there are ways for investors to liven up...

U.S. interest rates have been on a steady downward trajectory since the 1980s. While that may imply fixed income investing has been easier or less risky than equities, the bond market environment has consistently changed. Exchange-traded funds have made rolling with those changes a little bit...

The resurgence of the value factor this year has gotten plenty of attention, prompting scores of advisors and investors to revisit previously beloved exchange-traded funds dedicated to the value factor. So far, the move back to value ETFs is rewarding investors. For example, the popular iShares S...

Exchange-traded funds holding U.S government bonds have been among this year's hottest performers, but the Federal Reserve is not making things easy on fixed income investors. Putting it mildly, the Fed is unpredictable, so sometimes it pays to get some help in the bond market. The SPDR...

Thanks in large part to declining Treasury yields and ample speculation that the Federal Reserve will not be able to raise interest rates as many times as previously planned, some luster has been restored to dividend exchange-traded funds. That theme extends to high dividend funds and newer...

The Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLE), the largest equity-based exchange-traded fund tracking the energy sector, is up nearly 12 percent over the past month. XLE's exploration and production and more volatile counterpart, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Prod. (ETF) (...

To little surprise, the Federal Reserve did not raise interest rates when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met Wednesday. If there were any surprises, it is that the Fed appears to be on course for just two interest rate increases this year, half the number many market participants were...

The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE: XHB) is down 10.6 percent year-to-date, dragged lower by negative treatment of the broader consumer discretionary sector. However, investors might want consider XHB's woes as an opportunity to embrace, not ignore, the fund. Correction Territory XHB...

The SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD), the world's largest exchange-traded fund backed by physical holdings of gold, has tumbled in the past two trading sessions as investors have embraced riskier assets, but two days of ebullience for equities does not guarantee a lasting trend. A volatile...

Parse through the top asset-gathering, equity-based exchange-traded funds for a particular year, and it is unlikely that multiple sector funds appear, but that anecdote belies the rising popularity of sector ETFs. Sector ETFs have gained popularity among advisors and investors looking for more...