ETF Showdown

Remember when Chevy introduced the Nova decades ago and it became funny that a car was named for the Spanish translation of “don't go?” Well, this week's ETF Showdown is an intended example of no va, which is Spanish for don't go. At least don't go to either of these ETFs yet and you're about to...

When it comes to commodities, sugar is among the most volatile. So if your portfolio has a sweet tooth, it's probably best to stay out of the sugar futures market. That said, the exchange-traded products offering exposure to sugar aren't for the timid investor. One such product is the iPath Dow...

In the search to avoid surging correlations and, well, just find a long position that is less bad than the broader market pickings are slim these days. One of the pickings is the utilities sector. In this market environment, utilities stocks and ETFs are the epitome of the boring is beautiful theme...

The alleged economic recovery has been anemic at best and the U.S. unemployment rate remains far too high. Still, the U.S. consumer, which contributes two-thirds of this nation's GDP, has been pretty resilient. On Wednesday, the Commerce Department said retail sales showed no significant increase....

In these trying times, it's hard to warm up to almost any equity-based ETF from the long side. Whether its a sector play or a market cap play, hardly anything is working. The other side of the coin is that these are the times to build a shopping list and the often unheralded mid-cap universe may...

For those that aren't adrenaline junkies, this volatile market environment can be real pain in the neck. It is made even worse by relatively few options in terms of places to hideout. Looking at individual stocks or equity-based ETFs, the refuge options dwindle even further. On the surface, water...

There was a time when dividend stocks and ETFs offered some semblance of shelter from market storms and those days will return. We just don't know when. No one does, but one positive aspect of the market's recent woes is that some decent dividend ETFs have gone on sale. With their newly high...

There are no shortage of ETFs offering exposure to China. In fact, there are over 100 funds offering Chinese exposure, making China the most represented of the BRIC quartet in the ETF universe. While there may a lot of China-specific ETFs out there, one fund is still the boss of the block and...

Unless one has resided under a rock or in a cave for the past three or four years, one knows that U.S. bank stocks have seen better days. European financials have faced and continue to face myriad problems, similar and exclusive to those endured by their U.S. brethren, so where do investors turn in...

ETF Showdown: The “Other” Oil Services ETFs Short-term traders love oil services stocks. This high-beta group can pack quite a punch in either direction when oil prices are trending strongly and it should be noted that the likes of Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) and National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV)...

Last year, iShares, the world's largest ETF manager, rolled out several emerging markets ETFs that were a departure from the norm for the firm in that several of these funds were not first-to-market. One of the reasons iShares has accumulated more ETF assets under management than any other firm is...

As emerging markets ETFs have soared in popularity and number of offerings in recent years, an equally popular sub-trend has developed and that is the multi-country emerging markets ETF. Think about it: That's exactly what the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSE: EEM), arguably the ETF...

Before LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) and Russia's Yandex (Nasdaq: YNDX) burst onto the scene with recent IPOs, it was China dominating the Internet IPO landscape with a spate of widely anticipated offerings that had investors feeling all Silicon Valley circa 1998 again. Perhaps one reason why investors...

Keeping with the value theme, which we examined earlier this week by taking a look at five value ETFs, this week's ETF Showdown features a match-up between one of the funds previously examined and another that doesn't get a whole lot of press, but could be worth a look for the conservative, value-...

Think for a minute about all of the industry groups that ETFs offer exposure to. Then think about some that are arguably under-represented or not represented at all in the ETF universe. There's only one casino and gaming ETF out there. Auto companies such as Ford (NYSE: F) and General Motors (...