-
A Dichotomy In This Year's Low Vol Trade
Tuesday, February 28, 2017 - 10:18am | 540For part of last year, the low volatility trade, particularly as measured by the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (NYSE: USMV) and the PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio (NYSE: SPLV), was scorching hot. However, by the end of the year, investors were favoring higher beta, cyclical...
-
C'est La Vie: Election Focus On France ETF
Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 3:04pm | 540Heading into this year, global investors were acutely aware of the potential for eurozone political volatility as several of the region's largest economies hold national elections this year. For example, Germany and France, the two largest eurozone economies, head to the polls in elections that...
-
Another Spark For Russia ETFs
Tuesday, February 7, 2017 - 10:44am | 428Among single-country emerging markets exchange-traded funds, few, if any, have spent more time in the post-election limelight than the VanEck Vectors Russia ETF (NYSE: RSX). RSX, the largest and most heavily traded Russia ETF listed in New York, was one of last year's best-performing single-...
-
To Russia For An Inauguration Trade
Friday, January 20, 2017 - 11:00am | 505Given all the talk of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and other associated theories about the relationship, if any, between President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, it is not surprising the VanEck Vectors Russia ETF (Market Vector Russia ETF Trust (...
-
Say Oui To This Year-End Trade Idea
Thursday, December 8, 2016 - 10:30am | 415Yes, that headline indicates that what follows is a discussion on French stocks and the iShares MSCI France Index (ETF) (NYSE: EWQ), the largest France exchange-traded fund listed in New York. Oui To EWQ EWQ is more than 20 years old and home to $284 million assets under management. It is the...
-
How Healthcare ETFs Shaped Up Ahead Of Election Day
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - 4:11pm | 487It is the second-largest sector weight in the S&P 500 and also the worst-performing corner of the benchmark U.S. equity gauge this year, but with Election Day finally here, it is possible the worst is behind the healthcare space. The Health Care SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLV), the largest healthcare...
-
For Discretionary ETFs, Amazon Is Kind Of A Big Deal
Friday, October 14, 2016 - 1:46pm | 527Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) are up nearly 23 percent year-to-date, and it seems like hardly a day goes by without a sell-side analyst upgrading his or her price target on the stock to $900 or $1,000. Of course, Amazon's ascent is good news for the funds with substantial weights in...
-
Time For The Topix And Relevant ETFs
Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - 3:58pm | 556Against the backdrop of safe-haven demand for the yen, Japanese stocks and exchange-traded funds are struggling this year, but the scenario could improve in the fourth quarter. On the surface, many investors might criticize the lack of inflation, weak macro data and Japan’s corporate exposure...
-
Where The Cash Is At Among Sector ETFs
Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - 8:26am | 567Up nearly 12 percent year-to-date, the Technology SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLK) is the third-best sector SPDR exchange-traded fund this year. That alone implies XLK, the largest technology ETF by assets, merits another look, but there are more reasons to revisit XLK and rival technology ETFs. It's More...
-
Finding Value In Bank ETFs
Wednesday, July 20, 2016 - 9:25am | 601There is often a fine line between legitimate value and value traps. Where the laggard financial services sector and its corresponding exchange-traded funds fall this year is up for debate, but there is no debating that the S&P 500's second-largest sector weight is a dud to this point in...
-
An Old Tech ETF As A Yield Play
Tuesday, July 12, 2016 - 8:20am | 543There was a time when “technology sector” and “dividends” did not belong in the same sentence, unless that sentence was saying the former did not deliver much of the latter. Times, of course, change, and when it comes to changing times for technology stocks and dividends,...
-
China ETFs Scrambling For Support
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 8:27am | 552Emerging markets stocks and exchange-traded funds are thought to be strong performers this year, but the reality is the MSCI Emerging Markets Index is down 0.1 percent. Still, that is better than what investors became accustomed to diversified emerging markets benchmarks over the past few years....
-
No CROC: This Currency ETF Could Shine
Friday, May 20, 2016 - 8:38am | 478Alright a couple of a caveats here. First, the Guggenheim CurrencyShares Australian (NYSE: FXA) has, until recent weeks, been one of the better-performing developed market currency exchange-traded funds this year. Second, it is not wise to turn leveraged ETFs, vehicles meant to be short-term...
-
Look What's Lurking In This Low-Volatility ETF
Thursday, May 12, 2016 - 4:18pm | 515Take a poll of investors who are familiar with low-volatility exchange-traded funds, of which data suggest there are plenty, and ask those investors what sectors they would use to build a new low-volatility ETF. Chances are those polled would say a low-volatility ETF should include consumer...
-
Betting On The Brent ETF? Watch These Factors
Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - 1:11pm | 482Among futures-based oil exchange-traded products, the United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) (NYSE: USO) gets the most attention. USO tracks front-month West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark oil contract. USO And BNO However, Brent futures are the global oil benchmark contract. Fortunately,...