Though many working on Wall Street have backgrounds in finance or economics, there is certainly a love of history as well. Comparisons to past environments are commonplace, as are predictions based on historical patterns. Continue reading →
The climb past 1,800 exchange-traded products has been driven by a fair amount of innovation -- and seemingly quite a bit of duplication. Many of the newer products seem to compete directly with established funds, with very few differences. Continue reading →
ETFs are popular for a number of reasons; among them is the relative ease with which a low-cost, diversified portfolio can be constructed. Several Global Stock ETFs offer exposure to the global equity market -- thousands of stocks from dozens of different countries -- through a single ticker. But defining and creating global stock market exposure can be a tricky task -- with results that might surprise some. Continue reading →
"Investors are their own worst enemy." I've read or heard this dozens of times. Usually I nod in agreement, and pat myself on the back for sidestepping a trap that seems to catch just about everyone else. For a long time, I gave no thought to what this statement actually means, either in general or in the specific context of my portfolio. Then, I gave it a lot of thought. And after that, I distilled those thoughts into the 3,000 or so words below. (Don't worry; there are plenty of images along the way.) Continue reading →
Equal weight strategies have become increasingly popular in the ETF world in recent years, with investors pouring billions into funds that institute a simple "twist" on traditional stock exposure. Led by the Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP), the results have generally been impressive; RSP has beaten the "simple" cap-weighted S&P 500 by nearly 150 basis points annually over the past decade. Continue reading →
The technology sector has been one of the clear leaders in the market recently, with a number of large and small companies posting impressive returns. As the size of this sector has increased, many investors have ended up with additional exposure through funds that seek to replicate the broader market. Additionally, many more have made use of a number of exchange-traded funds that can be used to further overweight tech stocks. Continue reading →
Though the unofficial tax season ends in mid-April, the filing deadline is really a summary of the numerous investing events that occur throughout the year. It's the final scorecard to measure the effectiveness of an investor's tax strategy. Continue reading →
