Geoffrey Lordi

Multiple Asset Class Short-Term Returns

I second sbenard's comments: I've used LSC, as well. Great utility in its flexible L/S schedule.

The Top 10 ETF Model Portfolio

Nice consideration of mainstream etfs, Matt. Your article provides an excellent foundation for those interested in building etf portfolios for the intermediate to long term.

I'm a little concerned about high correlations among the above selections, however. With few exceptions, most of those choices - regardless of money flows - are highly correlated with one another over 1 and 3 year periods. And while many folks might hold them for longer, a large chunk of their portfolios would still be locked up in pretty high r^2 choices in the 4+ year (and beyond) range.

(Remember, anyone interested may 1) download data (closing price) for an etf in a prescribed period from Yahoo Finance to a spreadsheet, 2) align that data column near one for SPY, DIA, or QQQQ (or whichever other average for which you seek correlation data), and 3) use the CORREL command to check comovement: as such "CORREL(A1:A100,B1:B10... Performing your own correlation checks often 1) yields more varied period options than you'll see in the various etfs' glossy literature and 2) allows you to build tables that better help you analyze the r^2 of your portfolio.)

May I recommend an alternative to FXI? Loaded with financials (49%), one could argue for alternatives unless one seeks that bias. CAF, since its inception as a Morgan Stanley CEF, has outperformed FXI. It also does so on the 1- and 2-year time scales (even with roughly double the yearly fee), and holds less of a financial disposition (34%) to boot. (Note: The fund currently has 14% in cash.)

I do like LQD, own GLD, and have owned VTI long enough in several accounts that it has performed as advertised.

QQQQ is a relatively diversified pick, as well, for a popular average (0.84 r^2, depending on the period) because of its relatively large health care allocation: 20% (Amgen, Gilead, Teva); and, consumer discretionary: 12% (Costco, Starbucks, and DirecTV).

Readers wishing to add additional etfs for consideration to Matt's thoughtful presentation might want to study those in international energy or real estate, a currency hedge vehicle (DBV or ICI), or some commodities (but be mindful of the oils' waitings: unless you're content with over saturation, and equal-weight product such as Greenhaven's GCC might be more your style). A few other considerations might be to include an allocation to municipal and junk bonds, international or domestic utilities, or alternative style etf constructs (I'm thinking mainly of WisdomTree's dividend-paying based models as alternatives: for example, DEM instead of EEM or VWO).

Friday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets

There's always a way to profit. ProShares and the like have opened the door for many, me included, to play opposite sentiments on broad sectors. So while longs have been hurting, it's not just institutions that have been making money - many folks who devote a spot of time to strategies other than simple long buy-and-hold have softened the blows to their portfolios - or mitigated them completely.

Of course, TCD, just as you said: "everything comes to an end". So, then, will the downturn. And then it will be time to be long. :) Best to you.

The Master ETF

Heisenberg Equity Principle, anyone? :)

Tuesday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets

XLF closed at 23.31 on its first day, 19.78 if you had since reinvested dividends.

GL

Thursday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets

David,

I appreciate your thoughtful work. And, while I realize that you cannot publish data on *every* etf, do you have technical analysis for some of Currency Shares' products? What of other country etfs (some of which are relatively new), including Mexico (EWW) or Latin America's other growth engine, Chile (ECH)? And how about some of the less covered products, including South Africa (EZA), Israel (EIS), and Turkey (TUR)?

Thx,
GL

BRIC ETFs: Solid Enough for Your Portfolio?

Readers should also be aware of another Middle Eastern option, though it is not an etf. T.Rowe Price's Africa/Middle East mutual fund, which does not invest nearly as heavily in South Africa as does SPDR's GAF, gets investors - at just less than triple the fee of GAF (60bps) - honest exposure into UAE, Egypt, Qatar, and Oman. Some of us use this fund as a partial proxy on the frontier markets less their Asian representatives.

Global Asset Class Returns: U.S., Tech Stocks Off to Bad Start

Goatfarmer - the time period might be relevant to those with short time horizons. I've recently fielded some questions re: how good a move into FXP would be considering China's recent floundering...I'm glad we didn't consider it yet, as it was down heftily on Wednesday.

Many folks had counted China as "needing" a breather (whether you or I agreed with that or not)...And the talking heads on CNBC, Bloomb., et al, have been flapping about Germany, Sweden, and Mexico as worthy, safe, "alternatives". So, yes, I believe 2 weeks' analysis is meaningful - especially if some folks had planned to move from China/HK holdings into "sounder" European holdings (despite our thoughts - or, at least, mine - that Europe is not considerably safer than the US)...

Best,
Geoff L