ETF Strategies

Smaller Stocks are Paying Off this Year

May 28, 2013

Smaller companies are known for higher risks, but higher returns. In broad bull markets, small cap companies generally lead. This year, that has been half true. Leading investments in 2013 are concentrated in anything yield (from junk debt to utilities) and low volatility consumer staples. Following these winners are smaller stocks and midcap indexes. Going [...]

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Market is Up for 18 Straight Tuesdays – Investing Strategy?

May 19, 2013

We’re now in the midst of 18 straight up Tuesdays for the S&P500.  While this is a statistical anomaly, surely there is someone out there who thinks there’s an investing strategy to exploit this “trend”.  Perhaps buy leveraged ETFs on Wednesday nights and sell them Thursday nights?  Perhaps buy call options for even more leverage?  [...]

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Media is Red Hot for Good Reasons

April 28, 2013

Netflix (NFLX) may be this year’s best performer as a provider of internet TV, but investors are seeing impressive gains in media as a whole. PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio (PBS) ranks among several leveraged funds and Japanese equity ETFs as a top YTD performer. The fund tracks an index of 32 different media companies, most [...]

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A Low(er) Volatility Mid Cap Fund

April 21, 2013

When iShares isn’t too busy leading the world of exchange traded products, it’s designing new funds to take public. One of its newest launches, the MSCI USA Size Factor ETF (SIZE) could be a winner given its focus as a new, lower volatility mid cap ETF. This new ETF from iShares will track the MSCI [...]

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Bet on Higher Interest Rates with ETFs

February 17, 2013

Interest rates can’t stay low forever? Or can they? This week famed value investor Jim Grant announced to a group of ETF insiders that he was short the bond market, making an explicit call that he believed that rates would rise faster than yields could reward investors. The ETF space offers several opportunities for going [...]

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The Buyback ETF that Crushes the Market Year After Year

February 5, 2013

With interest rates at record lows, corporate cash balances at record highs, and tax policy visibility as low as it could ever be, corporate spending on buybacks came in 50% higher in 2012 than the average in the preceding decade. The turn towards buybacks is clear; how it will affect total returns isn’t as certain. [...]

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Bank on the American Consumer with Retail ETFs

January 27, 2013

The economy seems to be in recovery. Housing starts are at a five-year high, employment numbers are coming in positive, and Americans have deleveraged significantly from the credit bubble of the 2000s and generational low mortgage rates have certainly helped improve US consumer balance sheets. Moving your portfolio to position for a change in consumer [...]

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The Case for Small and Mid Cap Stocks in 2013

November 11, 2012

As the dust settles from the presidential election, investors are regrouping to find how to invest for the next four years. A number of trends look good for the small and midcap corners of the investment universe. Here’s what should drive small and midcap stocks in 2013 and beyond: Record bond issuance – As we’ve [...]

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Timing the Market with the Put-Call Ratio

November 4, 2012

The put-call ratio is one of my favorite sentiment indicators. As investors know, it often pays to be a contrarian. The most famed contrarian investor, Warren Buffett, says it best – investors should be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy. The put-call ratio gives investors the ability to see into [...]

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