Investor's Business Daily: 2nd Gold ETF To Trade:
"Barclays Capital deposited 15,000 ounces of gold with a custodian for the initial baskets for the gold ETF, according to a regulatory filing.
The ETF is slated to trade on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol 'IAU.'
The ETF's trustee, the Bank of New York, will value the trust's gold on the basis of that day's announced COMEX settlement price for the spot month gold futures contract.
COMEX is the exchange market on gold futures contracts operated by Commodity Exchange, Inc., a subsidiary of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc."
Sunday, January 30
Wednesday, January 26
ETF Fans Await Their Prague Spring
ETF Fans Await Their Prague Spring
I find it amazing that there hasn't been enough evident demand for Eastern European investment vehicles to warrant an ETF....
"Eastern European stocks have been sizzling, but for ETF investors the region remains tantalizingly out of reach.
A leading index tracking shares in Russia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic jumped 21.5% in local currencies in 2004. In dollar terms, last year's gain was 32.1% -- nearly triple the S&P 500's rise. "
I find it amazing that there hasn't been enough evident demand for Eastern European investment vehicles to warrant an ETF....
"Eastern European stocks have been sizzling, but for ETF investors the region remains tantalizingly out of reach.
A leading index tracking shares in Russia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic jumped 21.5% in local currencies in 2004. In dollar terms, last year's gain was 32.1% -- nearly triple the S&P 500's rise. "
U.S. ETF assets at $226 billion in December
U.S. ETF assets at $226 billion in December:
"Equity-index ETF assets grew by $13.9 billion to $217.7 billion, with U.S. stock ETFs adding $10.7 billion, while international fund assets increased by $3.3 billion.
ETFs that invest in bonds saw assets grow $604 million to $8.5 billion, according to the ICI, the trade group for the mutual-fund industry.
In December, the value of all ETF shares issued exceeded that of shares redeemed by $8.7 billion. Stock-index ETFs experienced a positive net issuance of $8.2 billion, and bond ETFs also saw a positive net issuance of $557 million. "
"Equity-index ETF assets grew by $13.9 billion to $217.7 billion, with U.S. stock ETFs adding $10.7 billion, while international fund assets increased by $3.3 billion.
ETFs that invest in bonds saw assets grow $604 million to $8.5 billion, according to the ICI, the trade group for the mutual-fund industry.
In December, the value of all ETF shares issued exceeded that of shares redeemed by $8.7 billion. Stock-index ETFs experienced a positive net issuance of $8.2 billion, and bond ETFs also saw a positive net issuance of $557 million. "
Saturday, January 22
ETF short interest at lowest since April 2003
EFT short interest is becoming an excellent indicator for judging when the market reaches extremes. In March when the market was near it's lows for the year short interest grew to 34.3% of outstanding shares. By December, when the market was reaching a peak, EFT short interest had fallen to only 15.3%. This indicator will become more useful as history grows, it is currently being tracked by Morgan Stanley and you can read more about it at the following link:
ETF Short Interest Dries Up
ETF Short Interest Dries Up
Wednesday, January 19
Fixed Income ETFs in 2005
Watching the Yield Curve: Fixed Income ETFs in 2005
"One thing that most market watchers predict for 2005 is higher interest rates. Higher interest rates affect all ETFs, but none more directly than fixed income ETFs. In general, higher rates generally reduce the value of existing fixed income portfolios. Lower rates, in turn, generally boost the value of fixed income portfolios. However, rate changes affect neither all bonds nor all bond ETFs equally. Given an environment of rising rates, what fixed income ETFs can be expected to outperform in 2005?"
"One thing that most market watchers predict for 2005 is higher interest rates. Higher interest rates affect all ETFs, but none more directly than fixed income ETFs. In general, higher rates generally reduce the value of existing fixed income portfolios. Lower rates, in turn, generally boost the value of fixed income portfolios. However, rate changes affect neither all bonds nor all bond ETFs equally. Given an environment of rising rates, what fixed income ETFs can be expected to outperform in 2005?"
Monday, January 17
ETF Focus: Gold ETF continues to shine as assets near $2B
ETF Focus: Gold ETF continues to shine as assets near $2B - Financial - Financial Services - Commodities - Mutual Funds:
"In just the first eight trading days of the new year, the StreetTracks Gold Trust (GLD: news, chart, profile) added 47 tonnes to its gold holdings, or about half of the gold accumulated by the ETF between its launch and the end of 2004, according to a research note released Thursday by Mitsui Global Precious Metals analyst Andy Smith.
In other words, so far in 2005 the gold ETF has added three times last year's total sales of U.S. Eagle gold coins, or more than 1,500 tons on an annualized basis.
Through Thursday, the gold ETF had about 142.7 tonnes of the precious metal and a net asset value of more than $1.9 billion and 45.9 million shares outstanding, according to the StreetTracks Gold Shares Web site."
"In just the first eight trading days of the new year, the StreetTracks Gold Trust (GLD: news, chart, profile) added 47 tonnes to its gold holdings, or about half of the gold accumulated by the ETF between its launch and the end of 2004, according to a research note released Thursday by Mitsui Global Precious Metals analyst Andy Smith.
In other words, so far in 2005 the gold ETF has added three times last year's total sales of U.S. Eagle gold coins, or more than 1,500 tons on an annualized basis.
Through Thursday, the gold ETF had about 142.7 tonnes of the precious metal and a net asset value of more than $1.9 billion and 45.9 million shares outstanding, according to the StreetTracks Gold Shares Web site."
Tuesday, January 11
IGW: When Will The Pain End?
The iShares Goldman Sachs Semiconductor ETF and the Merrill Lynch Semiconductor HOLDR continue to be among the weakest sectors of the market. This is unusual considering the underperformance in 2004. This article from Jonathan Berstein of the ETFzone talks about the fundamentals behind the recent moves.
In my opinion the Nasdaq will have a hard time rallying significantly until it gets a little help in the form the semis.
IGW: When Will The Pain End?
In my opinion the Nasdaq will have a hard time rallying significantly until it gets a little help in the form the semis.
IGW: When Will The Pain End?
ETF Update - SPY Options Begin Trading
SPY is the most actively traded ETF and market participants have awaited SPY options to allow smaller participants to participate in the movement of the S&P 500. Below is information directly from the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
PHLX Launches Trading of Options in SPDR's (SPY) on PHLX XL Streaming Monday, Jan. 10
PHLX XLSM is the new electronic options trading system from the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) that will maximize liquidity, encourage price competition and rapidly execute orders of all sizes. PHLX XL combines the best attributes of electronic and floor-based trading enhancing the PHLX's position as the most versatile options trading marketplace.
The following PHLX XL features have been activated:
'What You See Is What You Get' Options Trading Eliminates the distinction between the size for which the Exchange is firm for customer orders vs. broker-dealer orders.
Book Match - Enables the system to automatically match incoming customer and broker-dealer orders with orders on the specialists' books.
The Book Sweep Function - Sweeps the specialists' books based on movement
in the specialists' quoted market.
As a result, our customers are seeing much faster executions with less manual intervention.
Stay tuned. There's more to come...
PHLX XL enables market makers to electronically deliver streaming quotes, increasing liquidity and producing tighter, deeper markets. Streaming quotes will dramatically improve speed of execution by raising the number of participants electronically interacting with orders, thereby increasing the amount of orders automatically executed.
PHLX XL enhances electronic access and execution for customers, broker-dealers and market makers while leveraging the advantages of a floor-based environment.
Connectivity
Connecting to PHLX XL is easy. For current PHLX order flow providers, the transition is handled seamlessly, requiring no modifications. For new liquidity providers, there is a wide variety of vendors who can provide a complete quoting interface to PHLX XL, or the provider can choose to connect their host trading application directly with no intermediate hardware or software required.
For questions about connecting to PHLX XL, contact Marty Sonntag at 215-496-5458.
SPY Options begin trading
PHLX Launches Trading of Options in SPDR's (SPY) on PHLX XL Streaming Monday, Jan. 10
PHLX XLSM is the new electronic options trading system from the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) that will maximize liquidity, encourage price competition and rapidly execute orders of all sizes. PHLX XL combines the best attributes of electronic and floor-based trading enhancing the PHLX's position as the most versatile options trading marketplace.
The following PHLX XL features have been activated:
'What You See Is What You Get' Options Trading Eliminates the distinction between the size for which the Exchange is firm for customer orders vs. broker-dealer orders.
Book Match - Enables the system to automatically match incoming customer and broker-dealer orders with orders on the specialists' books.
The Book Sweep Function - Sweeps the specialists' books based on movement
in the specialists' quoted market.
As a result, our customers are seeing much faster executions with less manual intervention.
Stay tuned. There's more to come...
PHLX XL enables market makers to electronically deliver streaming quotes, increasing liquidity and producing tighter, deeper markets. Streaming quotes will dramatically improve speed of execution by raising the number of participants electronically interacting with orders, thereby increasing the amount of orders automatically executed.
PHLX XL enhances electronic access and execution for customers, broker-dealers and market makers while leveraging the advantages of a floor-based environment.
Connectivity
Connecting to PHLX XL is easy. For current PHLX order flow providers, the transition is handled seamlessly, requiring no modifications. For new liquidity providers, there is a wide variety of vendors who can provide a complete quoting interface to PHLX XL, or the provider can choose to connect their host trading application directly with no intermediate hardware or software required.
For questions about connecting to PHLX XL, contact Marty Sonntag at 215-496-5458.
SPY Options begin trading
Friday, January 7
ARE ETFS STILL RIGHT FOR YOU?
This is an interesting article from David Landis of Kipplinger that talks about the advantages and disadvantages of ETF vs No Load Index Funds. It seems the mutual fund industry is feeling some competition from the etf industry and accordingly has dropped fees on their indexed products. ETF's still have many advantages, but the article does have some interesting points.
"With the numbers so close, you'll have to weigh other factors to determine the better choice. The downside for ETFs is that, because they trade like stocks, you must pay a commission each time you trade. By contrast, you can buy or sell the Fidelity funds without paying commission. A plus for ETFs is that you can trade them any time the market is open. You can generally buy and sell regular funds just once a day, and fund companies discourage frequent trading.
High initial minimums also argue against regular funds. Fidelity requires $10,000 to invest in its Spartan line -- although the index-fund leader, Vanguard (800-635-1511), lets you in with just $3,000 (its Vanguard 500 Index charges 0.18% per year). Minimums are lower for retirement accounts. But you can buy as little as one ETF share at the going rate (recently $119 for the S&P ETFs), plus brokerage costs."
Kiplinger.com - are ETF's Still Right For You?
"With the numbers so close, you'll have to weigh other factors to determine the better choice. The downside for ETFs is that, because they trade like stocks, you must pay a commission each time you trade. By contrast, you can buy or sell the Fidelity funds without paying commission. A plus for ETFs is that you can trade them any time the market is open. You can generally buy and sell regular funds just once a day, and fund companies discourage frequent trading.
High initial minimums also argue against regular funds. Fidelity requires $10,000 to invest in its Spartan line -- although the index-fund leader, Vanguard (800-635-1511), lets you in with just $3,000 (its Vanguard 500 Index charges 0.18% per year). Minimums are lower for retirement accounts. But you can buy as little as one ETF share at the going rate (recently $119 for the S&P ETFs), plus brokerage costs."
Kiplinger.com - are ETF's Still Right For You?
Monday, January 3
Buying The Hot ETF's In The New Year?
Here is a completely different approach than the "Bargain Hunting" approach. It advocates buying the strongest indexes (Excludes Sector Funds) in the New Year.
"When it comes to investing in exchange-traded funds, buying last year's best performing ETF at the start of each and every New Year turns out to be a stellar strategy. The concept is so simple: buy whichever diversified ETF performed best in the previous year and, in the words of Bachman Turner Overdrive, 'Let it ride.'
The rewards, as demonstrated since January 2001 (where there were enough ETFs in existence to start tracking this strategy), are nothing short of eye-popping. But before I get to the strategy's details, and before I countdown to my Hot Hand ETF For 2005, let me throw a monkey wrench into my machinations.
While this strategy does reveal a healthy trend, the data only goes back four years; hardly long term. Also, I do not advocate sinking your entire stash into it. "
Jim Lowell: January surprise: A diversified ETF strategy
"When it comes to investing in exchange-traded funds, buying last year's best performing ETF at the start of each and every New Year turns out to be a stellar strategy. The concept is so simple: buy whichever diversified ETF performed best in the previous year and, in the words of Bachman Turner Overdrive, 'Let it ride.'
The rewards, as demonstrated since January 2001 (where there were enough ETFs in existence to start tracking this strategy), are nothing short of eye-popping. But before I get to the strategy's details, and before I countdown to my Hot Hand ETF For 2005, let me throw a monkey wrench into my machinations.
While this strategy does reveal a healthy trend, the data only goes back four years; hardly long term. Also, I do not advocate sinking your entire stash into it. "
Jim Lowell: January surprise: A diversified ETF strategy
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