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Checking In: A Mid-Cap Emerging Markets Play
Monday, September 19, 2011 - 1:31pm | 358For all the emerging markets ETFs that are out there, and there is no shortage of them, the mid-cap spectrum has been all but ignored. Think about it. As an asset class, emerging markets ETFs started out solely devoted to large-cap stocks. That changed with the rising popularity of multi-country...
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Checking In: Tell Beta Where To Go With This ETF
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - 1:40pm | 435No, this is not the time to embrace beta. And it probably isn't the time for emerging markets ETFs, but there is a new kid on the block in the ever-expanding universe of emerging markets ETF that may just be worth look, even right now. The EGShares Emerging Markets High Income/Low Beta ETF (NYSE...
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Checking In: Don't Forget This Precious Metals Play
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 - 3:25pm | 441Everyone and his sister is enamored by precious metals, particularly gold and silver. That's proved to be quite a boon for ETFs that are backed by physical holdings of those metals and one need look no further than the fact that the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) has become the world's largest ETF by...
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Checking In: A Glasnost Play
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - 4:17pm | 445Well documented is the fact that Russia has been the best-performing member of the BRIC quartet in 2011, a performance that has no doubt been helped by rising oil prices. To Russia's credit, it's inflation scenario isn't nearly as bad as its BRIC brethren. Also well known is the fact that when an...
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Checking In: Trying To Find Shelter From The Storm
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 - 3:06pm | 458In more benign market pullbacks, investors can usually count on a couple of sectors to provide some shelter from the storm. Utilities, telecom and food producers not only offer tidy dividends, but the defensive traits that make those groups worth embracing during what considered be a “normal”...
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Checking In: Fishing For Opportunities With The Fishing ETF
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - 2:55pm | 486There are ETFs that can be considered obscure and ones that have what can be deemed a niche focus. Global X is perhaps the ETF sponsor most proficient at taking these types of ETFs from the obscure to the relevant, helping to add to the firm's assets under management total. Certainly fitting the...
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Checking In: A Forgotten Global Materials Play
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 1:14pm | 490For all the beta and sexiness involved with materials stocks, it's surprisingly easy for some of the ETFs that track this economically sensitive sector fly under the radar. That sentiment is especially true when factoring in ETFs that track non-U.S. materials companies and that's even more...
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Checking In: EM Bonds And Currency, Oh My
Tuesday, July 19, 2011 - 1:56pm | 363Typically, we reserve “Checking In” space for ETFs that are less than a year old so we're cutting it close with the Market Vectors Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond ETF (NYSE: EMLC), which celebrates its first birthday on Saturday. Some bond ETFs rarely gain the attention that equity- or...
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Checking In: Investors Flocking To This Ag Play
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 - 2:28pm | 456For the longest time, well almost four years, it seemed like the Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (NYSE: MOO) was immune to legitimate competition when it came to equity-based ETFs tracking the global agribusiness boom. Sure, MOO has a couple of competitors, but none can come close to boasting the $...
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Checking In: Oslo Here We Come
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - 10:34am | 347Since the melodrama that is fiscal life for Europe's PIIGS started in earnest in 2010, one region of Europe has stood head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to being a safe haven for investors and a shinning star in terms of generating alpha: The Nordic region. Of course, Iceland is to be...
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Checking In: Solid Start For First Trust Brazil ETF
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 1:58pm | 390When First Trust, the Illinois-based ETF issuer with over $8 billion in assets under management, rolled out its suite of AlphaDEX international ETFs last month, we noted one of the more interesting options within group was the First Trust AlphaDEX Brazil Fund (NYSE: FBZ). We also noted FBZ was...
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Checking In: A Platinum Hit?
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 2:13pm | 478We're going to tweak the rules a bit for this week's edition of “Checking In” and take a look at an ETF that is a little bit more than a year old. This week's candidate, the First Trust ISE Global Platinum Index Fund (Nasdaq: PLTM), made its debut in March 2010 and with precious metals seemingly...
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Checking In: A Forgotten Global Oil Play
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 2:25pm | 459The universe of equity-based oil ETFs is now so expansive that it's not unheard of for a few funds to fall through the cracks. In particular, ETFs that focus on international oil companies seem to struggle to captivate investors here in the States as ETFs like the Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE:...
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Checking In: The "Other" Indonesia ETF
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 - 2:36pm | 361Just two days short of the one-year anniversary of its debut, the iShares MSCI Indonesia Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: EIDO) makes for a compelling Checking In candidate. After all, we try to limit this feature to ETFs that are less than a year old and we're cutting it close with EIDO. As...
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Checking In: A Nice Day For A WITE Wedding
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 - 2:13pm | 413You may have heard that silver is kind of a big deal these days. Indeed, the white metal that can attribute half of its demand to industrial uses is the toast of the precious metals party, regardless of what reason one attaches to that fact: Strong industrial demand or silver's status as a safe-...