Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Bond ETFs have been in rally mode for months and investors need to understand the opportunities and implications of these moves. Who would have thought that between September 2, 2014 and January 29, the share price of the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) would have soared 17.48 percent, while the share price […]
Gold is on the move as quantitative easing sweeps the world. After calendar year 2014 brought the spot price of gold a 1.79 percent decline to $1,183.20 per ounce on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, gold has started 2015 with a strong rally Gold’s big problem throughout 2014 was the Federal Reserve’s move to taper its […]
With headwinds gathering strength, investors wonder when does the bear market start? You have read about the economic mess in Europe. The anticipated inflation of the Eurozone economy turned out to be a no-show, and now the region is experiencing deflation. On January 7, Eurostat reported that the Eurozone’s annual inflation rate during the month […]
With each new year, superstitious investors look to omens in the hope of getting advance knowledge concerning how the stock market will perform. Many investors believe in the so-called, “Santa Claus rally”, which is based on trading activity during the last five sessions of December and the first two trading days in January. If the […]
Many ETFs had a great year and 2015 will likely produce winners that outpace the broad indexes. There was plenty of money to be made from investing in ETFs during 2014. While many investors avoided ETFs, out of concern that the weaker-performing stocks could offset the gains made by the stellar stocks, many ETFs made […]
The biotech sector experienced a big shock on Monday, December 22, just one trading day after new record intraday and closing highs had been reached by the four most-heavily-traded biotech ETFs: the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index ETF (IBB), the SPDR S&P Biotech Index ETF (XBI), the Market Vectors Biotech ETF (BBH) and the First Trust […]
Falling oil prices have been making all the news, but what are the positives for American consumers. Although oil prices began to decline in early August, the drop became more significant after September 30. The Thanksgiving Day decision by OPEC oil ministers to leave the organization’s oil production quota unchanged at 30 million barrels per […]
Gold prices are starting to climb. A funny thing happened on November 7. After hitting a low of $1,130.40 per ounce, the spot price of gold rebounded, ending the day at $1,178.70. On the previous day, November 6, spot gold closed at $1,141.30. Had gold finally “bottomed”? Between November 7, 2012 and the closing bell […]
Cybersecurity is a growth industry and now a new ETF offers investors the opportunity to participate in this market. The recent cyber-attack against Sony Pictures was only the latest example of the vulnerability of computer systems to the acts of pirates, cyber-terrorists and other miscreants. Sony’s system was hacked by a group which stole the […]
A quick “glance under the hood” shows us which sectors have been hot in 2014, which have not and which could be leaders for 2015. The nine SPDR Sector ETFs have been telling us about the advances and declines of the various sectors throughout the year. While many of us had our own expectations about […]
