ETF Deathwatch for February 2010
The number of exchange traded products on ETF Deathwatch dropped below 100 for the first time since November 2008. Whether this drop is permanent or temporary remains to be seen. I believe it to be a temporary event caused by a slowdown in new product introductions a year ago. Some 70 new funds...
The 26 Commission-Free ETFs at Fidelity
The longer I study Fidelity’s commission-free ETF announcement of last week (2/2/10), the more impressed I become. This is not a hap-hazard list of ETFs that Fidelity and BlackRock threw together. It is a solid lineup assembled from what many would consider the best iShares core offerings in domestic...
IVV: Buying the S&P 500 Without Commissions
Investors have plenty of ETF options to track major U.S. asset classes. The benchmarks sometimes have significant overlap, and in some cases more than one ETF follows the same index. How do you tell which one is better? One important factor is expenses. Take two ETFs designed to track the S&P...
Fidelity Shoots Back in ETF Brokerage Price War
That didn’t take long. It was only November when Charles Schwab launched its first in-house ETFs with commission-free online trading for the firm’s brokerage clients. We said at the time competitors would have to respond. Now Fidelity is doing it, in a big way. Effective February 3, 2010,...
WisdomTree to Close 10 ETFs in March
WisdomTree (WSDT) announced last Friday (1/29/2010) its intention to close 10 ETFs. The last day of trading will be March 24, 2010 with final redemptions occurring on March 29. I suggest current shareholders avoid the liquidation process by selling on the open market prior to delisting. Be sure...
ETF Stats for January 2010: Listings at 947
There were 21 new ETFs and one new ETN launched in January. No products were delisted. The net increase of 22 brings the current count of listed products to 947. The official count at the end of 2009 stood at 925, consisting of 836 ETFs and 89 ETNs. The year-end quantity was originally reported...
GMMB, GMTB: New Grail Active Bond ETFs Now Available
Grail Advisors took another stab at the actively-managed ETF space with the launch on January 29 of Grail McDonnell Intermediate Municipal Bond ETF (GMMB) and Grail McDonnell Core Taxable Bond ETF (GMTB) on the NYSE. Both had very light volume in their first public session. Actively-managed exchange-traded...
Do Not Buy SPGH
A new exchange-traded product hit the market yesterday (January 28, 2010): UBS E-TRACS S&P 500 Gold Hedged Index ETN (SPGH). If this sounds like something you might want to buy, I suggest you understand what it really is and compare it to a Do It Yourself (DIY) solution before plunking down your...
MINT: A Conservative Way to Stash Cash
Investors are often conditioned to believe that cash is king, or that it is at least a good idea to keep some of your assets in cash to preserve your portfolio’s liquidity. After all, emergencies and unforeseen expenses happen. While this all makes sense, most cash investments offer meager rates...
iShares Begins Rollout of 4 New International Sector ETF Suites
Last Friday (1/22/10), BlackRock announced four new international sector product suites and the first five ETFs within those suites. If BlackRock follows through on the complete rollout, each suite will have funds for each of the 10 GICS sectors, or 40 new ETFs in all. International sector ETFs have...
