Do Not Buy CSLS
Credit Suisse Long/Short Liquid Index ETN (CSLS) was listed for trading yesterday (February 22, 2010). It is not a hedge fund ETN, and it does not track the similarly-named Credit Suisse Tremont Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund Index. It is an unsecured debt obligation of Credit Suisse. Furthermore, Credit...
Barclays Launches No-Reset Leveraged ETNs
Be careful what you wish for. For all the leveraged fund critics that either do not like or do not understand daily (or monthly) reset of leverage and want a vehicle without path-dependent performance, your wish has come true. However, unless you bought them yesterday, you will not be getting the exact...
Are You Ready For More E-TRACS?
If you haven’t heard of E-TRACS, you aren’t the only one. This family of exchange-traded products has gone nowhere. Every product they offer, except one, is on my Deathwatch list. Their products have meager assets and almost no trading volume, but the sponsors keep on plugging along. ...
Play the VIX (VXZ or VXX)
Investors live with volatility. It’s as much a part of the market as trends, support and resistance levels, and, of course, prices. According to Investopedia, volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security. It can be measured by standard deviation or variance...
DXO Becomes First Victim of CFTC Activity
PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Long ETN (DXO) became the first apparent victim of the recent CFTC activity surrounding exchange traded products. Deutsche Bank (DB) announced today (9/1/09 press release) that it will redeem all outstanding shares of DXO after the market close on September 9. Unlike...
Shareholders Left Hanging with BSR Delisting
JP Morgan Chase (JPM) is not making any friends in the ETF/ETN marketplace. Their moves have not been adequately announced or explained, leaving shareholders perplexed and angry. The latest example is the delisting of the BearLinx Alerian MLP ETN (former ticker BSR) after the end of trading on June...
Open Letter to ETN Sponsors
Dear ETN Sponsors, The time has come for you to address the ETN stigma. It is time to start moving the “unsecured debt obligation” structure of ETNs to something more appealing. Investors often lump together the similarly-named exchange traded funds (ETFs) and exchange traded notes (ETNs)....
The Dollar Gets Taken to the Woodshed; How to Play It!
The U.S. Dollar is crumbling, down 3.25% this month. Reality is finally sinking in: enormous budget deficits, out-of-control spending, monster bailouts, and banana republic tactics have put a bulls-eye on the greenback. Don’t get trampled as the dollar gets taken to the woodshed! Fortunately,...
AMJ: New ETN Offers More Access to Master LP Market
Last month a new exchange-traded note slipped under the radar and received very little notice. The JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN began trading under the ticker AMJ on April 2. AMJ tracks an index of Master Limited Partnerships – partnerships that trade on U.S. exchanges and are usually connected...
Go Platinum (PGM)
With the dollar plunging and the prospect of inflation in the next few years, investors are looking more closely at precious metals. Today we’ll take a look at the third precious metal: not gold, not silver, but platinum. This “white gold” is 16 times more rare than gold (30X by some...
