Best Performing ETFs of 2011 – Leveraged and Traditional Classes

January 1, 2012

With 2011 wrapping up, we saw US indices close roughly flat on the year (slight gain on the Dow and a huge move for the Dogs of the Dow especially, at 17%), but global markets swooned, especially those in the developing world and Europe.  It shouldn’t come as a major surprise then, that the major […]

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Buying a Home from a Global Perspective

December 17, 2011

When buying a home, it’s reasonable to imagine that most people consider things like finances, budgeting, location, finding a trustworthy agent, getting a mortgage, dealing with movers. All these things make up the localized tasks that are a necessary part of the process. And while obviously such things must be dealt with, I’d like to […]

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Shorting Treasury Options: Profit, Rinse, Repeat

December 6, 2011

Every few months, I’ve been repeating the same pattern of shorting out of the money leveraged ETFs on US Treasuries and keeping the premiums when the options expire.  It’s been a nice way to supplement largely flat market returns with recurring income, and in my view, without taking on an inordinate amount of risk.  Since […]

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Some Thoughts on Insurance

November 28, 2011

As I set out to embark on a trip to India in December, of course, my wife’s thinking the worst while I’m just psyched to see some neat stuff outside the routine business meetings.  That being said, of course, my mind wanders to whether my family would be equipped to deal with some unforeseen event, […]

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Volatility ETNs Soared Last Week…In an UP Market

November 6, 2011

Even though the S&P500 (SPY) closed the week with a respectable 2.4% gain, volatility ETNs (Exchange traded notes) showed huge gains for the week ranging from 19%-40% depending on the type of ETN.  For a bit more on how the volatility index works, the VIX is the CBOE’s market volatility index which derives its volatility […]

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5 tips to cope with higher energy bills this winter

October 30, 2011

The following was a guest post highlighting energy tips for the winter: Every year the cost of heating your home increases. Finding the cheapest gas and electricity is essential. The bills get higher and the winters seem colder. The slow economy does not help the situation and neither does the rising cost of oil. There […]

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Money saving tips: 5 up-cycled Christmas gift ideas

October 26, 2011

Up-cycling is a fancy way of saying re-purposing, which quite honestly is a fancy way of saying, use the old stuff you have to make cool new stuff you want. Up-cycle and save. Up-cycling for 25-50 % of your Christmas gift list will save hundreds of dollars. Jewelry A pair of earrings using recycled or […]

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1000 Best and Worst ETFs of 2011

October 19, 2011

With 2011 coming to a close, it’s a good time to take inventory of which ETFs fared the best which may lend some insight into trends and sectors to keep an eye on going into the close of the year.  With tax-loss harvesting, asset rebalancing, and the dreaded annual returns fund managers must report following […]

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Things to Consider with Mortgages and Refinancing

October 9, 2011

The following is a guest post by Emortgage Calculator, which provides mortgage calculator tools and comparison data for “whole of market” advisers: With financing rates at record lows the world over, tougher lending requirements seems to be the primary barrier for most that are interesting in the space.  For people that do qualify, new home […]

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