IWC: iShares Russell Microcap Index ETF Instablogs

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Monday, March 25, 9:50 AM iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) announces quarterly distribution of $0.1169. 12-month yield of 1.83% (as of 02/28/2013). For shareholders of record Mar. 27. Payable Apr. 01. Ex-div date Mar. 25. Comment! [Dividends]
Monday, March 25, 9:26 AM There's a "chasm of untold and historic proportions" in microcaps (IWC), writes Marc Robins, making the case for the sector. "The market has worked for over 3 decades crowding-out any interest, support or ownership of the tertiary issues," he says, excited over the number of low-risk 3-10 baggers out there right now. 1 Comment [Quick Ideas]
Monday, March 18, 4:57 AM Ron Rowland offers additional highlights on the recently expanded lineup of commission-free ETFs over at Fidelity including the following caveat: Funds not held for 30 days by retail investors or 60 days by RIAs using Fidelity as a custodian will be subject to a $7.95 per-trade commission. Some RIAs have complained that the longer holding period directed at them is unfair. Rowland spells out the full list of affected ETFs here. Comment!
Thursday, March 14, 12:48 PM The VIX is low, but it's not at an all-time low. Small cap volatility, however, hits what looks like a record low with the Russell 2000 (IWM, IJR) VIX declining to 13.97, says Stifel's Dave Lutz. For the year, the IWM is up 12%, outpacing the SPY by more than 200 basis points. Comment!
Thursday, February 14, 10:46 AM A strong January forced short-sellers to cover their bets in several prominent ETFs, with both SPY and IWM seeing an 11% reduction in the percentage of their float shorted. The MSCI EAFE Index Fund (EFA) - with heavy exposure to Europe - saw a 24% reduction in shorts. Seeing an increase in activity is the SPDR Retail ETF (XRT) - 259% of the fund's float is now being shorted. Comment!
Monday, January 28, 7:27 AM "The bears are gone, extinct, vanished," writes John Hussman, with the only ones remaining being permabears or nutcases. "And yet, the historical evidence for major defensiveness has rarely been stronger." Capitulation is everywhere, he says, with even Alan Abelson telling investors to let profits run until stocks start to go the other way. 6 Comments
Thursday, January 17, 10:05 AM Another day of outperformance by the small caps (IWM +0.5%) has the Russell 2000 at a new all-time high of 888. The mid-caps (MDY +0.6%) post an all-time high as well. Despite John Bogle's aversion, small-cap stocks do tend to offer better returns over the long haul. 9 Comments
Monday, January 7, 12:47 PM With U.S. small caps "picked over," some managers are looking overseas for ideas. International valuations are at 13X earnings and dividend yields of 3% vs. domestic at 15X and 2%, according to Mark Bogar, whose firm is allocating 57% of it small cap exposure to foreign holdings, a big jump from a year ago. 1 Comment
Thursday, December 27, 2012, 8:59 AM As January goes, so goes the rest of the year is a well known Street factoid, but top-performing sectors in January also tend to outperform for the rest of the year, according to Sam Stovall. Ever-changing cycles: It's so well known small caps outperform large caps in January, now the move begins in mid-December, writes J.C. Parets. In fact this year, the Russell 2000 started outperforming in mid-November! Time to drop this sure thing. Comment! [Quick Ideas]
Thursday, December 6, 2012, 3:46 PM John Bogle's never bought the idea that small caps outperform large caps over time, but his assertion is based on the removal from the 20th century a decade of particular small cap outperformance starting in 1973. Without it, he says, large caps have actually done better. Is this fair? What if we remove a decade of large cap dominance? In 2012, microcaps (IWC) have gained 15%, vs. 11.6% for the Russel 2000 (IWM), and 13.6% for the SPY. 2 Comments
Monday, November 19, 2012, 1:25 PM The selloff since mid-September was especially bruising to microcaps (IWC), which slid 10.3% (before today's 1.9% bounce) vs. a 7% decline in the S&P and a 6.3% fall in the Russell 2000. For the year, microcaps lag the 10.3% gain in the S&P and small-caps by 160 basis points. Comment!
Friday, September 14, 2012, 3:01 PM Maybe signalling the risk appetite needed for further gains (or a sign of froth), microcaps join small caps in leading the equity rally over the past month. Up 8.9%, the Russell Microcap Index (IWC) has outperformed the S&P 500 by 540 basis points, and taken the lead YTD by 290 basis points. Comment!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012, 12:02 PM The S&P 500 widened its recent lead over small-caps in July (SPY +1.55%, IWM -1.92%). On a Y/Y basis, SPY has outperformed IWM by 889 basis points. Interestingly, Microcaps (IWC) - after a rough (relative) year in 2011 - are neck and neck with the S&P thus far in 2012. Comment!
Thursday, June 14, 2012, 7:03 AM Russell Investments is reshuffling the Russell Microcap Index (IWC) on June 25. New additions to the index include CytRx (CYTR), Synergy Resources (SYRG) and Echo Therapeutics (ECTE). The full list of changes (here) will be finalized June 22. Comment!
Monday, May 7, 2012, 10:35 AM "Unbalanced towards the risk side," is how John Hussman continues to describe the market's current risk/reward tradeoff. His indicators - among them institutional crowding into "risk on" trades, "near panic" levels of insider selling, and a burst of new stock issuance - are at about the most extreme negative levels he's ever observed. 3 Comments
Thursday, May 3, 2012, 1:32 PM Bullish sentiment jumps 7.8 points to 35.4% in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey, the highest level in a month, but below the long term average of 39%. Likewise, bearish sentiment hit a 1-month low, diving 8.9 points to 28.5% - below the historical average of 30%. Comment!

IWC iShares Russell Microcap Index ETF

IWC

iShares Russell Microcap Index ETF