Andrew Corn submits: One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes is the one where George realizes that his instincts are generally wrong and the “bee line” to success is from his doing the opposite of his better judgment. In the episode it’s like he played a country song backwards; he got the good job and the [...]
Tom Lydon submits: With fixed-income yields as low as they are now, the yields on junk bonds are looking quite attractive. However, junk bond ETFs might be at risk of crumbling if the economy takes another hit. Junk bonds have been hugely popular for a big chunk of this year, and the market has shown [...]
Tom Lydon submits: On the heels of the best September in decades came another solid month for the markets and ETFs. In October, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.6%. The S&P 500 gained 3.4% and the NASDAQ added 5.5%. All in all, it was the best October for the Dow since 2006 and the [...]
George Spritzer submits: I like to track the net asset values (NAVs) of my closed-end fund holdings. A few days ago, on Oct. 27th, I was surprised when the NAV for the Helios Advantage Income Fund (HAV) jumped over 6.5% in one day. At first I thought this must have been a typo, but the [...]
Gary Gordon submits: For market-watchers, the last week of October was a bit like waiting for a tornado in Kansas. You know that a twister is about to touch down on a plain… but you don’t know where or when. The quietude is entirely due to 3 items: (a) mid-term elections on Tuesday, 11/2, (b) [...]
Tom Lydon submits: Natural gas ETFs have had their share of challenges this year. Could cool weather on the East Coast break the funds’ cold snap? ThirdAge News Staff reports that high natural gas and oil prices have helped some of the largest energy suppliers in the world to increase profits. For example, Conoco-Phillips (NYSE: [...]
Tom Lydon submits: Thanks to vast reserves of oil and free-flowing cash, the Middle East has become an investing hot spot. The jewel in the crown of Middle East ETFs, however, just might be Qatar. The Gulf has continued to beat the odds laid out by the global financial crisis and continues to gain investment [...]
Tom Lydon submits: If you’re looking for clues about what ETF investors want and what’s really moving in the markets, leveraged and inverse funds are a good way to take the pulse. Wall Street has further stabilized this month, and no one asset class dominated. Investors sought havens in precious metals, took refuge overseas and [...]
Kevin Grewal submits: Core products pushed revenues and net income up at Microsoft (MSFT) in the third quarter, further extending out the exceptional earnings season witnessed by the technology giants and giving further support to the Software HOLDERs ETF (SWH), the iShares Dow Jones US Technology (IYW) and the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and [...]
Joe Eqcome submits: Outlook: This week’s outlook article is entitled, “Housing Prices Wouldn’t Go Down and the Fed is Here to Help” (10/29/10). The article explores the two financial myths of our time. Summary: As the Fed embarks on its QE II printing press exercise in an effort to craft the great “maybe”, you have [...]
