FocusShares Rides Again
They’re back. Many of you reading this column have probably never heard of FocusShares, the firm that introduced four “focused” ETFs in November 2007 and closed them down less than eleven months later. However, even as a defunct ETF sponsor, there was value in the firm’s exemptive relief...
ProShares Launches Inverse Investment Grade and Junk Bond ETFs
ProShares introduced two new ETFs the past week that for the first time provide ETF investors with inverse exposure to corporate bonds: ProShares Short High Yield (SJB) launched 3/22/11 and ProShares Short Investment Grade Corporate (IGS) arrived today (3/29/11). ProShares Short High Yield (SJB) seeks...
PowerShares and DB Team Up On New Foreign Bond ETNs
Invesco PowerShares and Deutsche Bank last week (3/23/2011) announced the first family of single-country sovereign debt ETNs. Six new exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) offer long exposure to German, Italian, and Japanese bonds. Each country has a unleveraged ETN as well as a 3x leveraged version. ETNs...
Three Non-Leveraged Inverse Bond ETFs From Direxion
Direxion, the firm that popularized 3x leveraged funds, launched its first inverse ETFs that do not employ leverage on March 23, 2011. The three new ETFs provide -100% daily exposure to various bond market segments: Direxion Daily Total Bond Market Bear 1x Shares (SAGG), Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury...
CROP: The First Agribusiness ETF With A Small Cap Focus
The IQ Global Agribusiness Small Cap ETF (CROP), launched 3/22/2011, invests in global small cap companies engaged in the agribusiness sector. This includes crop production & farming, livestock operations, agricultural supplies & logistics, agricultural machinery, agricultural chemicals, and...
TSXV Takes You To Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange
The Global X S&P/TSX Venture 30 Canada ETF (TSXV) began trading March 17, 2011, becoming the first fund to track the S&P/TSX Venture 30 Index. Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange is home to many junior mining and exploration firms, and it provides investors with the opportunity to invest in these...
Egyptian Market Reopens – EGPT NAV Plunges
After many delays, the Egyptian Stock Exchange reopened yesterday. A 10% drop within minutes of the opening triggered circuit breakers and suspended trading for the day. During the nearly two-month closure, many investors mistakenly assumed the Market Vectors Egypt ETF (EGPT) was a good proxy for the...
QQQQ Becomes QQQ Again
PowerShares is changing the ticker symbols for 10 of its ETFs starting with tomorrow’s (3/23/2011) opening of trading. Included in the changes are the PowerShares QQQ Trust along with the nine small cap sector ETFs that were the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Select Sector SPDR Trust. I never...
Morgan Stanley Becomes ETN Issuer With New MLP Product
Morgan Stanley (MS) last week issued its first ETN (exchange-traded note) products listed for U.S. investors. The Morgan Stanley Cushing MLP High Income ETN (MLPY) began trading 3/17/2011 and will track a customized index of Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). The underlying criteria-weighted index...
Assets In New WisdomTree ETF Instantly Surpass Majority Of Existing Products
WisdomTree (WSDT) last Thursday (3/17/11) introduced WisdomTree Asia Local Debt Fund (ALD), a new actively-managed ETF targeting Asia Pacific ex-Japan local currency debt. WisdomTree provides surprisingly little information on the fund, but somehow managed to accumulate a massive $145 million in assets...
