Global X announced an addition to its lineup of income-oriented ETFs this week, debuting a fund that targets a basket of the highest yielding preferred stock issues in the U.S. and Canadian markets. The new SuperIncome Preferred ETF (SPFF) will seek to replicate the S&P Enhanced North American Preferred Stock Index, which includes approximately 50 preferred stock securities with this highest yield. SPFF joins a lineup of preferred stock ETFs that includes the recently launched ex-Financials Preferred Stock ETF (PFXF) from Van Eck, but will be the first to specifically target the highest yielding securities in this asset class.

Under The Hood

Like many preferred stock ETFs, SPFF will have a heavy tilt towards the financial sector. Financial issuers represent about 74% of the portfolio, with insurance companies (8%) and REITs (6%) also making up meaningful allocations. The largest individual allocations will be preferred stock of Credit Suisse, AIG, Aegon

By Daniela Pylypczak

Van Eck is wading into a new corner of the ETF industry this week, debuting a unique product offering that will deliver exposure to preferred stock issued by non-financial companies. The new Market Vectors Preferred Securities ex-Financials ETF (PFXF) will offer exposure to an index comprising about 70 different issues of preferred stock with credit ratings ranging from CCC to AA.

While PFXF certainly isn't the first ETF to offer access to these "hybrid" securities that have characteristics of both stocks and bonds, it will be unique in that it avoids financial issuers entirely. The iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Fund (PFF), which has more than $9 billion in AUM, allocates more than three quarters of its portfolio to financial companies.

Under The Hood

Instead, PFXF will spread holdings around a number of different sectors. The new fund will include a meaningful allocation to REITs

By Daniela Pylypczak

After ending on a relatively positive note last week, U.S equities faltered yesterday as retail sales came in worse than expected and investors prepare for a slew of corporate earnings. Though some might say that yesterday's decline is simply due to markets taking a necessary breather after Friday's wild trading session, many argue that second quarter earnings is what investors are really focused on right now. As earnings jitters heightened and markets await Bernanke's testimony later this week, stocks slipped into red territory: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, marking its seventh decline in eight sessions, while the S&P inched 0.2% lower and Nasdaq dropped 0.4%.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported a third straight decline for retail sales in June, coming in much below economists' expectations of a slight increase. Overseas, the eurozone consumer price index was reported unchanged for the month of June at

By Daniela Pylypczak

Since SPY made its debut as the first exchange-traded fund in 1993, the ETF industry has sure come a long way with its lineup of over 1,400 products now available to all walks of investors. From plain vanilla funds to the more complex and intriguing funds like the new “Random Roger” ETF (RRGR), traders and investors alike can now access virtually every corner of the investable universe. Although there are numerous new funds already in the pipeline, taking a step back and looking at the performance and resilience of some of the “older” ETFs paints a vivid picture of just how far the industry has come.

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of four bond ETFs from one of the oldest and most successful issuers in the industry: iShares. Since July of 2002, iShares’ government bond ETFs, IEF, TLT, and SHY, along with its corporate bond

ProShares added a pair of products designed for investors looking to bet on the short term performance of the often volatile financial sector today. Two new ETFs, the ProShares UltraPro Financials (FINU) and ProShares UltraPro Short Financials (FINZ) will offer 300% daily leveraged exposure to the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index, a benchmark that consists of large banking institutions. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Sector Index Fund (IYF) offers non-leveraged exposure to that benchmark. IYF, which is up about 11% so far in 2012, makes its largest individual allocations to Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, and Berkshire Hathaway.

The financial sector has continued to exhibit significant volatility in 2012, creating potentially attractive opportunities for active traders looking to profit from short term swings in either direction. IYF, for example, has shown considerably greater volatility than the S&P 500 so far in 2012.

Like many ProShares ETFs, FINU and FINZ

AdvisorShares added another actively-managed ETF to its lineup this week, rolling out a fund in partnership with an experienced money manager who also happens to be a popular financial blogger. The new AdvisorShares Global Alpha & Beta ETF (RRGR) will offer exposure to multiple asset classes, including domestic and international stocks and bonds, in an attempt to outperform popular benchmarks such as the S&P 500 and the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index.

The new active ETF will be managed by Your Source Financial. Roger Nusbaum, author of the popular investing blog Random Roger, will serve as the Portfolio Manager for RRGR.

Under The Hood

At launch, the RRGR portfolio will feature a substantial allocation to domestic and international equities, indicating a fairly bullish outlook (stocks make up more than 80% of total assets at launch). Specifically, the asset class breakdown will be as follows (as of 7/10/2012):

• U.S. Equities:

By Daniela Pylypczak

Investors were disappointed once again today (Wednesday), as the highly anticipated minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed little promise of more aggressive actions in the future. The hopes of central bankers stepping in to boost the economy have been buoying markets over the past month, providing a false safety net for investors. And as that sense of security quickly faded, stocks reacted in kind, sliding into red territory: The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 0.38%, while the S&P closed virtually unchanged and Nasdaq came out as today's biggest loser with its loss of 0.49%.

On the macroecnomic front, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed for the second straight month, falling within expectations at $48.7 billion. The narrowing of the deficit was mostly due to an increase in exports, as well as the fall in oil prices which helped push down imports. Across the Atlantic, the German

by Daniela Pylypczak

The heat wave that has been sweeping much of the country in recent weeks finally broke over the weekend, providing a minor measure of relief after a prolonged stretch of record temperatures. The unseasonably warm weather has already contributed directly to dozens of deaths and injuries, as well as general discomfort for millions of Americans.

But the recent heat wave has been a welcome development for a number of commodities, as the soaring temperatures gave meaningful boosts to a number of natural resource prices. While stocks and bonds generally receive minimal impact from weather conditions, commodities can be a different story. And as the ETFs below indicate, anticipating extreme conditions can be one way to generate some compelling investment ideas.

1. ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas (BOIL)

Natural gas has grown to be one of

by Daniela Pylypczak

The second quarter's earnings season has gotten off to a rocky start, with lackluster reports and forecasts already bogging down investor sentiments. Blue-chip powerhouse Alcoa (AA) posted quarterly losses, while earnings outlooks for the technology and industrial sectors remained rather dour. Despite an initial rally spurred by renewed optimism in the eurozone's newest bailout program, U.S. stocks drifted lower: the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.7%, while the S&P slid 0.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq came in at the bottom of the barrel with a 1% loss.

After coming under recent scrutiny of investors around the globe, China's economy was once again in the spotlight Tuesday. China's trade balance was reported at $31.73 billion, well above analysts' expectations. Taking a closer look at the data, however, reveals that the large increase primarily arose from a significant slowdown in imports, as well as a modest slowdown in exports

By Daniela Pylypczak

As many economies in the eurozone continue to teeter on the edge of default (or forced bailouts), investors around the globe remain understandably leery of any investments made within the shaky economy. After several years of painstaking measures and efforts made toward stabilizing the region, central bankers are still forced to piece together massive bailout programs and slash interest rates toward record lows. While allocations made to this particular sector of the global economy have diminished in recent years, European equities still maintain their standing as one of the key components and diversifying agents in many investors’ portfolios.

Halfway through the year, 2012 has not proven to be an easier year for the global economy–with Europe taking center stage as the major source of financial turmoil. Many of the funds in the Europe Equities ETFdb Category remain deep in red territory in terms of year-to-date returns,

By Daniela Pylypczak

Under the umbrella of exchange-traded products, ETNs have attracted far less interest than their ETF cousins and now represent only a small portion of total ETP assets. Exchange-traded notes are debt instruments linked to the performance of an index, and as a result there won’t be any tracking error with these products. Although these investment vehicles expose their holders to the credit risk of the issuing institution, many offer certain tax advantages that may be appealing to many investors [see also 10 Surprising ETF Stats From Mid Year ETF Data].

As the financial world continues to embrace the exchange-traded note structure, issuers have been ramping up their line ups, contributing to the the accelerating growth of the industry. Investors distanced themselves from ETNs during the recent crisis (and rightfully so; the credit risk component no doubt gave many a bit of additional anxiety). But ETNs are

Of the nearly two dozen products in the High Yield Bonds ETFdb Category, it is two broad-based funds that account for the bulk of assets; HYG and JNK are by far the most popular choices in this asset class. But they are hardly the only ETF options for exposure to junk bonds; there are options for achieving very granular exposure in terms of regional exposure with products such as EMHY (emerging markets) and HYXU (global ex-U.S.). Similarly, those looking to fine tune duration have the suite of BulletShares products from Guggenheim (BSJC through BSJH) as well as funds such as SJNK.

Now, thanks to both recent and more dated innovations, there are options for focusing in on a specific stretch of the credit risk spectrum as well. When it comes to junk bond ETFs, there are now several shades of credit risk, from the relatively high quality to the

When asked to identify the economies that are posting the most substantial GDP expansion in the current environment, many investors would quickly respond with China, India, and other well-known emerging markets. Those two countries are certainly among the leaders in terms of global economic growth; both are expected to expand at clips greater than 5% for the foreseeable future. But their integration into global markets also makes them vulnerable to adverse developments in places such as Europe, a relationship that we've been reminded of quite frequently in recent months.

Another less publicized source of expected GDP growth in coming years -- at least according to the World Bank -- is Africa. Though the continent faces no shortages of challenges in a quest to ultimately become part of the developed world, the economy there is showing tremendous promise and emerging as a potentially attractive investment destination. Nigeria's economy

Earlier this week, the ETF Industry Association released its June 30 batch of ETF data, providing an interesting snapshot of this fast-growing industry. It should come as no surprise that ETF assets continue to surge; the industry is quickly closing in on 1,500 products and $1.2 trillion in assets.

Looking a bit more closely at the stats for the ETF industry, however, reveals a number of interesting nuggets; below are 10 facts about the pace of expansion that surprised us.

10. PIMCO’s Year-Over-Year ETF Growth: 330%

PIMCO was a relative latecomer to the ETF industry, but is wasting no time catching up to more established rivals. Thanks in large part to the extremely successful launch of an ETF version of its Total Return bond fund, PIMCO’s ETF assets have more than tripled during the past year. BOND has gathered more than $1.5 billion in assets since its March launch,

Last Friday saw an encouraging end to what had been an extremely disappointing quarter, with stocks surging globally amidst at least temporary optimism over the outlook for Europe. But the one day rally was not nearly enough to make up for all the ground lost across equity markets in the second quarter of 2012. Debt drama in Europe along with a sour patch of economic data released on the home front seemed to dominate headlines over the past few months, firmly reminding investors that the global recovery remains sluggish at best.

Amidst the turbulence on Wall Street, our lineup of 40+ All-ETF model portfolios also saw a fair share of volatility. As such, below we highlight some of the portfolio strategies that held their ground quite well, and some that didn't, during a quarter characterized by uncertainty on all fronts (13 week returns as of 6/30/2012):

Low Volatility ETFdb

Filling in what had become one of the most glaring holes in the ETF lineup, ProShares last week introduced a product that will allow investors to bet against the beleaguered currency of the Euro zone. The new ProShares Short Euro (EUFX) will seek to deliver daily returns that correspond to -100% of the daily change in the U.S. dollar value of the euro (specifically, the 4:00 ET EUR/USD cross rate as published by Bloomberg). Somewhat surprisingly, EUFX is the first exchange-traded product available to U.S. investors that seeks to accomplish that objective, giving those with a strong opinion on the outlook of the currency a tool for betting on a decline.

EUFX has already attracted the attention of investors looking to hedge euro exposure or simply bet against a decline in value; more than 18,000 shares traded hands yesterday, and the daily volume has gone as high as 42,000

As many had expected, the first half of 2012 saw the continuation of an aggressive expansion of the ETF industry. More than 120 new exchange-traded products began trading during the first six months of the year, including several innovative and first-to-market ideas. At first glance, it appears as if the new wave of ETFs have been extremely successful; the funds that have debuted since Jan. 1 have aggregate assets of about $3 billion -- an impressive haul in such a short period of time.

But upon further review, the new crop of ETFs has been a few big hits scattered among mostly unimpressive debuts. A single ETF represents more than half of all assets garnered by new 2012 launches, a situation that mirrors the top-heavy nature of the broader industry quite nicely. The vast majority of the new ETFs that have begun trading in 2012 have assets of less than

The first half of 2012 is now in the books, dropping the curtain on a back-and-forth six months for many investors. Although the sentiment recently has been generally negative, the first half will close with positive year-to-date returns for many broad-based equity and bond ETFs -- the result of a furious rally during the first two months of the year.

As the markets have frothed back and forth during the last six months, a number of asset classes have floated to the top. On the flip side of the coin, there have already been a number of big losers so far in 2012 as well. Below we highlight the biggest movers from the first half of the year in the ETF universe -- in both directions.

Best ETF Performers

The best ETF performers, excluding leveraged and inverse funds, represent relatively narrow sectors of the market and small economies around the

ALPS, the firm behind the Equal Sector Weight ETF (EQL), is debuting a new fund that combines aspects of equal sector weighting with high dividend-paying stocks. The new ALPS Sector Dividend Dog ETF (SDOG) will apply the well known “Dogs of the Dow” methodology to a broader index of stocks, drawing its components instead from the S&P 500.

The Dogs of the Dow strategy, popularized in the early 1990s by Michael O’Higgins, is a very simple strategy: it involves picking the ten components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average with the highest dividend yield each year. This strategy is premised on the idea that companies do not alter their dividend to reflect trading conditions, and that therefore the payouts made to shareholders are more indicative of long-term value. Using that logic, it follows that the companies with the highest yield should maintain the greatest price appreciation potential–while simultaneously delivering attractive

As an up-and-down (and up again) first half of the year draws to a close, many portfolios have managed to squeeze out moderate gains so far in 2012. Looking around at the various exchange-traded products reveals some interesting results after what can only be described as an exciting six-month stretch. While many ETFs have performed as one might expect, given the macroeconomic environment, there are a number of surprises as well.

Below, we profile a handful of ETFs and ETNs with YTD performance figures at the midpoint (almost) of 2012 that are not quite what we might have expected.

Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (XIV) : Up 58%

Who would have guessed that betting against volatility would have been one of the most successful strategies during the first half of 2012? In a year that has been marked with twists and turns, markets have seen plenty of volatility. But despite