Tag: ETFs

Warnings of slower sales sends U.S. stocks lower

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Warnings of weaker sales from two major companies and concern that the Federal Reserve could pull back its support for the economy sent the stock market spiraling lower Thursday.

Before the start of trading, Wal-Mart cut its estimates for annual revenue and profit, warning that cautious shoppers are spending less. The news followed a revenue forecast from Cisco Systems late Wednesday that was weaker than Wall Street expected.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 20 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,666 at noon Eastern Daylight Time.

The selling swept across all 10 industry groups in the index, and 93 percent of the index's 500 stocks fell.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 177 points, or 1.2 percent, to 15,159. The Nasdaq composite index fell 52 points, or 1.4 percent, to 3,618. Continue reading "Warnings of slower sales sends U.S. stocks lower" →

Supercharge Your Portfolio With These Powerful ETFs

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By: David Goodboy - Street Authority

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have revolutionized the way investors approach the financial markets.

No longer are multiple accounts required to access the majority of indexes, currencies and commodities. Now, with a stock brokerage account, the self-directed investor can trade nearly every popular financial instrument with the click of a mouse.

Not only has access been democratized, but leverage has also undergone a revolution. ETFs that provide two and even three times leverage -- meaning they amplify the moves of an instrument or index by a given multiple, in either direction -- are available on a variety of financial instruments.

I'll never forget my first time using triple-leveraged ETFs. My technical research and fundamentals clearly indicated that the SP 500 index, the broad barometer of U.S. stocks, was overextended on the upside. A big drop was on its way, and it was going to happen soon. Continue reading "Supercharge Your Portfolio With These Powerful ETFs" →

Exchange-traded funds entering new phase of growth

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The headlines about exchange-traded funds suggest there are no limits to the growth of these low-cost, easily traded alternatives to mutual funds.

Among the recent developments: ETFs have attracted at least $100 billion in new cash for each of the past six years, growing at a far more rapid pace than traditional mutual funds. ETF assets have doubled over the past three years to $1.4 trillion, with one study projecting they'll hit $3.5 trillion by 2016. ETFs have recently begun to appear as investment options in 529 college-savings plans and 401(k)s.

Yet obstacles are beginning to appear. It has become more difficult for fund companies to launch ETFs that are significantly different or lower-cost than what's already on the market.

"We're close to a tipping point in terms of numbers," says Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF research at S&P Capital IQ. Continue reading "Exchange-traded funds entering new phase of growth" →

The Simplest Way to Profit From Gold And Silver Right Now

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The Federal Reserve Bank has been pulling out all the stops to help the U.S. economy gain strength, but many fear the Bank's aggressive moves eventually could lead to a serious backlash.

We spelled out those concerns in this article, and though the Fed's bold $1 trillion move hasn't led to ruinous inflation just yet, many inflation hawks have been loading up on gold and silver -- just in case.

Of course, buying and storing gold and silver bullion is no simple task. That's why many investors prefer to own these two commodities through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

There are a wide range of options, and here's a quick primer on the topic. Continue reading "The Simplest Way to Profit From Gold And Silver Right Now" →

Bruno del Ama: Do ETFs Offer Value for MLPs?

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The Energy Report: Bruno, since Global X Funds brought its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) to market in 2009, you have added another 30, the latest being the Global X MLP ETF (MLPA:NYSE). What is the appetite among investors for ETFs, and specifically those featuring master limited partnerships (MLPs)?

Bruno del Ama: Investors continue to migrate to the ETF asset class, and we are big fans of energy MLPs. Energy transportation is an infrastructure play with a couple of benefits. First, it provides significant diversification to complement investors' portfolios; second, it provides income in a low-interest rate environment.

ETFs are an innovation in the MLP asset class. We at Global X focus on asset classes where we are the first provider of a particular ETF. In our last interview, for example, we talked about our uranium ETF, which provides focused exposure to that market in a way that did not exist before. Innovation is in our DNA. Continue reading "Bruno del Ama: Do ETFs Offer Value for MLPs?" →