March 2012

ETF Spotlight: Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (FDN)

March 25, 2012

Only blind investors have missed the on-going boom in online stocks. The year-ended 2011 brought a slew of new tech IPOs, and it is expected that the dot com juggernaut, Facebook, will IPO later in 2012. So how can investors play the internet sector? We’ll take a look at the Dow Jones Internet Index Fund […]

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ETF Spotlight: PowerShares Buyback Achievers ETF (PKW)

March 18, 2012

Buybacks are back in play. Looking to boost shareholder value, a number of companies have announced share repurchase agreements to buy back shares on the open market. Betting on one’s own company is usually a safe bet for executives, one which increases the earnings per share for a firm, and allows for a very good […]

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ETF Investing in the News

March 13, 2012

Here are some interesting ETF news items out this week: Schwab jumping into the actively managed ETF fray (source) The High Costs of High Yield ETFs (Barron’s) The Apple Effect on ETFs (ETF Daily News) Diamond ETF in the Works? (Barron’s) Human Rights Index Fund – Not a good idea (Marketwatch) Outlets that graciously featured […]

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5 Lowest Cost ETFs on Earth

March 11, 2012

Exchange-traded funds have commoditized broad allocation strategies. As exchange-traded funds require only a modest amount of overhead and competition intensifies, fund fees plunge with each passing day. The Lowest Cost ETFs Below are the five least expensive exchange-traded funds: Focus Morningstar Large Cap Index ETF (FLG) – This FocusShares fund based on the Morningstar Large […]

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Mortgage Strategies While Rates Are Low

March 8, 2012

The following is a guest post on mortgage strategies while rates are at generational lows: It’s tough to ignore what’s going on with mortgage rates around the world right now. With Central Banks committed to keeping their lending rates low, mortgage rates, at least in most developed nations, continue to hover at generational lows.  There […]

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Tracking Error Explained

March 4, 2012

Tracking error happens when a fund’s performance deviates from the performance of an index it seeks to track. The SPY ETF is supposed to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the S&P500 index. Should the fund perform above or below the performance of the S&P500 index, it would experience tracking error. It would […]

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