November 2008

Mutual Funds, ETFs News and Views

Every Stock Mutual Fund Lost Money in 2008 But One | The Big Picture
Given that most equity mutual funds are required to be fully (or 90%) allocated, its really no surprise. But its such a stark statistic, I thought it was worth mentioning. Pretty wild . . . > Source: Every Stock Mutual Fund Has Lost ...

Mutual fund layoffs spread | Philly | 11/21/2008
Mutual fund layoffs spread. Here's the three most-read stories this week at www.ignites.com, the Financial Times' mutual funds newsletter and link-sheet. The links are subscriber-only, but the facts are well known, so we'll summarize: ...

The Wallet : Active Management vs. Index Funds: Do You Get What ...
A new survey from S&P shows pricey actively-managed mutual funds have not outperformed low-cost index funds in the last six years.

ETF Cheat Sheet ~ market folly
If you're ever in a hurry to place a trade based on a sector or specific grouping of stocks, then fear not. Bespoke is out with their handy ETFCheat Sheet which breaks down the various ETFs and their tickers. Download the .pdf here. ...

ETF volume relative to underlying index volume | The Big Picture
As the market has sold off since January, exchange-traded fund volumes have outpaced those of the underlying indexes, suggesting that ETFs are increasingly.

Ways to Protect Your ETF Portfolio Now | ETF Trends
If your mutual fund is poised for a big year-end distribution, has underperformed its benchmark, and is losing its position, then sell it and buy an ETF in a similar asset class. We have mentioned this before but mutual funds have a tax ...

The Savings Investor: Fed Chairman Bernanke on Money Market Mutual ...
Fed Chairman Bernanke on Money Market Mutual Funds. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke addressed the mutual fund money market industry in comments made before Congress on November 18, 2008. The huge amount of money withdrawn out of ...

Trading Vs. Gambling
Stocks, Properties, Business, Finance and Forex Investment Discussion, |-- Business & Finance Discussion Forum, |-- Forex Foreign Currencies Exchange Trading Discussion, |-- Stocks, IPO, Options, Warrants, Bonds, Mutual Funds Discussion ...

Canadian Financial DIY: How to Improve Chances of Picking Mutual ...
Mutual funds are a prime vehicle for many people to save and invest in pursuit of financial goals. However, not just any mutual fund will do as some mutual funds are winners and some are losers. In fact, most mutual funds generate lower ...

Topic Reviews » Blog Archive » Select First-Rated Green Mutual Funds
Consequently these investors do a research to locate best green mutual funds and test the fund’s portfolio and profile before buying units in the mutual fund. In case they cannot locate a suitable company, they even post sites on the ...

Mutual Funds, ETFs, Index Funds, News and Views

Forecast: ETFs To Eclipse Index Funds - Features
Retail mutual fund net sales versus total (institutional and retail) ETF net sales. ETFs spike of 16% in net sales from 2006 to 2007 is an important growth story, relative to the net sales rates for active and passive mutual funds. ...

Prime Green Mutual Funds Just For You | WhatIsIt.Org
Prime green mutual funds in general have a diverse portfolio composed of shares and bonds of “green” concerns of all sizes: small, large and medium. Investments in small and medium concerns are much more exposed to risks of higher price ...

Hot Mutual Funds & ETFs: Hot Mutual Funds and ETFs - November 2008
How do I follow Hot Mutual Funds recommendations? 1. Pick the Mutual fund /ETF Categories based on your risk level and to establish a well rounded portfolio. The Morning Star Category Returns will help you pick the categories based on ...

A Guide to Mutual Funds: Love, Marriage and Money
A Guide to Mutual Funds. Free information about mutual funds. Sunday, November 16, 2008. Love, Marriage and Money. By Ada Denis. Funds. Uniting love and money may be the wildest stumbling draw a blank on the way of true love, ...

ETF Innovators, LLP: 10 Under the Radar Small & Micro-Cap Value ...
ETF Innovators (ETFI) creates new global equity indexes for licensing and commercialization as exchange-traded funds. I am a pharmacist and index developer who has been investing since August 1997 and freelance writing for investors ...

Score Another One For Index Funds
It's yet another piece of data proving that you're better off just buying an index fund. This new version of the Standard & Poor’s Indices Versus Active Funds Scorecard (SPIVA) looked at a lot of different types of funds for the five ...

World's Largest Mutual Fund Company To Lay Off 1300 Workers ...
Fidelity Investments, the world’s largest mutual fund company, will lay off this month 1300 employees or 3% of its work force. It will also conduct a second round of job cuts in the first quarter of 2009. ...

Bailout Bungled; ETF Investor Trust Is Lost | Daily Markets
The US Treasury is gearing up to deliver capital injections to 20 more banks, large and small, which could encourage financial exchange traded funds (ETFs) to.

ETF Strategies In Volatile Markets | Daily Markets
The markets are as volatile as ever today, making it a good one for an article I wrote to appear in Investment News, outlining our strategy when it comes to exchange traded funds (ETFs). Many advisors are dealing with scared and ...

Dividend Growth Investor: Dividend ETF’s for busy investors
I will share my journey with you on my quest for achieving increasing passive dividend income stream from stocks with above average dividend growth which have the tendency to consistently increase their payments over time.

ETF Wrap-Up: The New Lows Just Keep Building | Daily Markets
That goes with probably the same amount for mutual funds as investors scamper to the sidelines to protect whatever they have left. Private money managers and investment advisors are feeling the heat as well with clients demanding ...

Personal Finance News and Views

* Productivity hit by personal finance stress
More than a third of workers are suffering from stress due to problems with personal finances, research has found... head of corporate healthcare and wellbeing, said over half of employees spend time organising personal finances in the workplace, and HR needed to intervene soon... Productivity hit by personal finance stress.

* Would You Manage Your Money Through The Newspaper?
Privacy is a touchy concern and it's generally assumed that personal finances are one of the most private matters in peoples' lives ... None the less, online personal finance services like Wesabe and competitor Mint are growing fast... tells everyone everything is really the best choice to do personal finance through.

* Personal Finance: Set Up a Personal Fuel Cost Hedge Fund
As part of his goal to get readers to save $1,000 in 30 days , personal finance blogger Ramit Sethi suggests setting up a personal fuel hedging fund to protect against rising gas prices eating into your best ... Kevin Purdy Personal Finance: Set Up a Personal Fuel Cost Hedge Fund.

* Investing in Yourself Pays Dividends
Most people never look beyond money when it comes to personal finances... there are other steps that have a direct and indirect influence on personal finances... make choices that may not seem to have much to do with personal finances but can end up saving -- and earning -- you thousands of dollars.

* Personal Finance: Make and Stick to a Realistic Spending Plan
Adam Pash Personal Finance: Make and Stick to a Realistic Spending Plan.

* Personal finance: Bankruptcies skyrocket
Personal finance: Bankruptcies skyrocket.

Exchange-Traded Funds News

* Winning ETFs Under Obama
Pharmaceutical ETFs, including PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceutical ( PJP ), could have a more difficult ... Americans become insured and begin scheduling appointments and yearly physicals, ETFs such as iShares DJ U.S... While ETFs heavily loaded with large oil companies, such as iShares Oil ... could feel the pressure of an energy shift, natural gas ETFs, such as First Trust’s Revere Natural Gas Fund ( FCG ), could ...

* Hamman: No Transparency Issues With Active ETFs
... with Hamman to discuss events surrounding his company and active ETFs... IU: AdvisorShares is strictly an actively managed ETF provider, isn't it... And each can use other underlying ETFs, so each will be an ETF-of-ETFs... employ a number of different strategies, both in terms of ETFs-of-ETFs as well as more traditional ETFs comprised of different stocks ...

* More On ETF Liquidity
In July I wrote about European ETF secondary market liquidity, concluding that, in general, investors' concerns about ... in other words a simultaneous purchase and sale of an ETF, based on a notional trading size of €25,000... look at the ten cheapest and ten most expensive European ETFs to buy and sell in the secondary market at XETRA ...

* If Your Mutual Fund Is Costing You, Look At ETFs
One of the many advantages of exchange traded funds (ETFs) is that they’re, on average, cheaper than most mutual ... While the exchange traded funds (ETFs) work to make their mark with investors and get ... aware of the fees you're paying when it comes to exchange traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds or your retirement account.

* 3X Leveraged ETFs Immediately Popular with Traders
... to expectations (including mine), the Direxion 300% leveraged and inverse ETFs are rapidly gaining traction in the marketplace... I doubted that these ETFs could attract enough liquidity to convince the trading community to switch from the ProShares ETFs, despite the higher leverage rate offered by Direxion ... day, such as the Rydex S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEArca: RSP ) and the PowerShares Dynamic Market ETF (NYSEArca: PWC.

* A Diversified ETF Portfolio
... us about how we would go about constructing a diversified ETF portfolio... place half of the allocation in a total bond market ETF and split the rest between short-term and long-term ... from overall market diversification/exposure, we like to look for ETFs that hold not only Asian companies but also Russian and ...

* ETF, Economy Drubbing Has Lessons to Be Learned
... it comes to life's lessons, markets and exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the United States may have a lot to learn ... out of control, and taking the related exchange traded funds (ETFs) and stocks with it, but can there be a... most well-known analysts tracking the global exchange traded fund (ETF) market.

Mutual Fund Views

How Index Funds Have Fallen Out of Favor
Rather than take on all of the companies that would end up holding losing stocks, why not focus on excellent mutual funds or single stocks that will do well.? That is why index funds are currently out of favor. ...

Create Your Own ETF Hedge Fund: A Do-It-Yourself ETF Strategy for ...
Create Your Own ETF Hedge Fund allows you to break down these barriers and effectively operate within this environment. By focusing on the essential approaches of global macro long/short and aggressive growth, this book will help you ...

Why stock market crashes are good for you
Here's why stock market investors should take the current market crash to buy stocks or invest in mutual funds. Related posts. No related posts.

How To Dissect Mutual Fund Returns
On January 1, 2006, a leading financial daily reported the trailing 1-year and 5-year returns of Fidelity Contrafund (Nasdaq: FCNTX), a no-load mutual fund, as 16.23% and 6.21% respectively. While the financial daily’s return ...

Mutual Funds Face severe challenges ahead
This is the worst performance by the mutual fund sector in its history with some of the funds are finding it tough to manage redemption. Though banks have come forward to help mutual funds, they want banks to lower the interest rate on ...

Actively Managed Mutual Funds Face Growing Pressure From Cheaper ...
... Financial Research Corporation (FRC) explores the evolution, opportunity, and vulnerability of actively managed mutual funds and emerging investment vehicles within the rapidly changing world of retail portfolio construction. ...

Be Prepared to Pay Taxes on Mutual Funds Despite Losses
Just when you thought your mutual fund losses couldn't get any worse, your fund might be about to add insult to injury. During the next few weeks, many mutual funds are expected to deliver some unpopular news to investors: You will owe ...

Fear Adds to Volatility of ETFs, and VIX Measures It
Fearful investors have added to the volatility and dramatic price swings of stocks, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and the overall market. This volatility, which is used as a gauge in investor sentiment, can be measured by the Chicago ...

What mutual funds to buy after election
Lets remember that mutual funds are not a short term investment option. For the short term investment trade moves you use stock options and etf (exchange traded funds) and stocks. What will happen to mutual funds after the election day. ...

Understanding Why Target Date ETFs Feel the Pain | ETF Trends
Understanding Why Target Date ETFs Feel the Pain. November 04, 2008 at 3:00 pm by Tom Lydon. Target Date ETF Target date exchange traded funds(ETFs) are a different animal when it comes to investing. ...

Equity Mutual Fund Flows and The Uncanny Timing of the Investing ...
In 1980, fewer than 6% of US households were investors in mutual funds. The industry achieved mass appeal among the public starting in the mid 1980s and by 1990 US mutual fund assets exceeded $1 trillion for the first time. ...

AboutMoneyBiz: 401(k) Problems
Index mutual funds covering the total U.S. stock market, a good broad-based foreign stock index fund, and a good core bond fund are better choices. The will limit portfolio volatility and provide better returns in the long run. ...

ETF Deathwatch - Nov 2008 | investwithanedge.com
This month's ETF Deathwatch list jumped to 84 entries versus 59 at the end of September. The list includes any ETF (or ETN) that is at least six months old and failed to have an Average Daily Value Traded (ADVT) of at least $100000 ...

Mutual funds in apology mode - FierceFinance
Of all funds that name the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index as their primary benchmark, 52 percent were trailing the index's year-to-date return of negative-33.86 percent. We're seeing a lot of... Read more...

October the cruelest month for mutual fund managers - FP Trading Desk
Market Call, mutual funds. The continued carnage on equity markets in October hammered publicly traded mutual fund companies like DundeeWealth Inc., with stock prices declining far more than their underlying assets under management. ...

Personal Finance Headlines

* Personal Finance: Beware promise of easy fixes for big debts
* Treasury Expects To Borrow Record $550 Billion
* Fed Survey Shows Massive Credit Tightening Continues
* Fitch: US Credit Card Losses May Hit Historic Levels In 2009
* U.S. Crisis Effort May Have Further Roiled Markets: Lacker

Index and Funds News

* Investment Portfolio Risk Matching Strategy
... issue selection risk, no active management fund or non-core index fund should have a weight more than 5% (core, broad market index funds may be weighted to the extent of the asset class ... 40% US bonds), or as complex as a single broad index fund for each asset class at the target weight for the ...

* Four ways to buy and hold
Well, if they're not going to be an active investor - and very few should try to do that - then they should just stay with index funds," he replied. Any low-cost index fund... equities, one good bet is the Vanguard Total Stock Market index fund ( VTSMX. The mutual fund tracks the performance of the MSCI U.S.

* How to Be a Passive-Aggressive Investor
... definitely hurt your returns -- but combining passive investing with aggressive investiong may actually help them. Passive investing, which involves placing your money in no-brainer index funds to automatically match the market's average return, is all that most people really need. Once you sign up for a broad-market fund, and set up regular payments, it requires almost no effort.

* 9 Retirement Killers
Or you can broadly diversify your assets, mostly via low-cost index funds such as Vanguard Total Stock Market... But if you're paying 1% or 2% a year to lose to an index fund -- as most mutual fund managers do -- then you're better off taking control of your own investments ...

* 16 Funds With Low Turnover Rates
... performance track records over the trailing three- and five-year time periods that put them in the top 20% of their peer groups. As usual, we didn't include load funds. And this week we also left off target-date and index funds since those offerings get their own screens at points throughout the year. The Buy and Hold Crowd. Ticker.

* Take a Pass on Passive Index Investing
The idea is simple enough; use only broad-based index funds and always stay fully invested (save for rebalancing to the target allocation... It could just as easily be a completely different set of index funds, but the result would likely be very similar. This has been a very aggressive bear market, with just about every stock or fund down ...

* Husband-Wife Manager Team Favors Low-Cost Indexing Approach
It also invests through Dimensional Fund Advisors and Vanguard open-end index funds... for investors interested in SRI investing are the Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund (VFTSX) and the TIAA-CREF Social Choice Equities Fund (TICRX... energy companies and commodities producers already held in their broad market index funds," Abramson said.

* Three main lessons from the Crash of '08
The fees charged by your broker and the mutual funds you're in will siphon off 50% of your nest egg over 15 years without you knowing it. Since there's no Oz, put together a portfolio of ETFs and index funds that charge .2% per year. If you can't do it, find someone who will for a fixed yearly fee.

* Mutual Funds: Flexibility Counts Now
During the 1990s bull market, the prize for the most outstanding mutual fund might have gone to Vanguard 500 Index Fund... the granddaddy of all index funds... But in the difficult markets of recent times, S&P 500 index funds have sputtered.