Michael Bommarito

iShares Asia Region ETFs Weekly and YTD Returns

Hey Steven,
I'm not familiar with the differences between the S. Korea ETF and the Korea Fund CEF (KF), but KF was the 2nd best returning CEF/ETF on the week with 9%, including 3% alone on Friday. Do you think this was more likely a CEF valuation problem or a difference in held assets?

Japan: Weekly ETF and CEF Performance

Hello Steven, I just recently noted the divergence of the Small Cap funds DFJ and JOF over the past month and wondered what your take on this was. Is there any particular company that JOF could have held at a great weight that has really been hit hard enough to cause such a large divergence?

Japan: Weekly ETF and CEF Performance

Steven, if you're interested, I've described a dollar-weighted method of calculating category return that you might be interested in. Basically, this weights each respective ETFs return by its percentage of the total number of dollars traded on the entire category.

Japan: Weekly ETF and CEF Performance

Ah, I'd seen the 70% weighting for VPL but not the top holdings distribution, that does make sense. And yes, the liquidity issue on some of these funds does make it hard to figure how accurate a proxy they are, but I figure if you just increase N, any illiquidity-generated premium/discount should average out.

On another note, given the latest producer inflation data out of Japan, what's your stand on the time frame for the next tick up in rates there?

Japan: Weekly ETF and CEF Performance

Just curious why you included the Vanguard Pacific. I have a list here of the ETFs/CEFs I calculated my Japan category with, and it's almost exactly the same other than ITF and VPL.

If you want to include Pacific funds, here are some others you might want to add: EPP,APF,RAP,DNH, and DND. Those last two are actually ex-Japan funds too, so you might argue that if you want broader coverage, they should be included before the Vanguard Pacific fund.

Global Market Performance: Most Countries At Top of Trading Ranges

Speaking of bollinger bands, the respective MSCI Index ETFs for Brazil (as well as Malaysia, Singapore, and Mexico) have all reversed trend and are now below their 50-session lower bands.

Do you think this is just nervous behavior on illiquid and sensitive ETFs (for EWM and EWS at least), or is this perhaps representative of a correction to come in the week ahead (FOMC dynamics aside)?