Rhunzzz

What if Governments Are Directly Buying Stock ETFs?

But what point would there be in buying stocks? Buying bonds directly affects treasury yields and credit markets. Buying stocks... has no direct, appreciable effects upon the operations or finances of the companies listed, let alone the wider economy.

There is this myopia common among stock market commentators, to believe that the stock market is somehow as important and deserving of attention as the real economy. Pfeh.

Applying Value Investing Principles at the Country Level

These studies have intrigued me as well. The problem is, for the retail investor who would be interested in ETFs, hard information on the valuations of national stock markets is hard to come by. One can try to go by the valuations of the representative ETFs, but this becomes difficult since different ETF issuers tend to use different measures for valuation ratios.

As an example, the price-to-book ratios for the iShares Japan ETF (EWJ) and the equivalent SPDR (JPP) are very different - 1.47 as opposed to 1.25.

Then there is the familiar question of which ratio. You prefer earnings rather than asset bases for valuations, but then p/e is already so prone to pitfalls for a well-known index like the S&P, let alone that of a single-country index ex-US. Trailing p/e? Forward p/e? Leave out companies that have negative earnings?

Demographics Make Russia a Risky Long-Term Investment

All other things being equal, a greying population means a population in which more people are trying to liquidate assets (for retirement income) than are trying to accumulate them (saving while working). This means asset deflation. That is why developed countries with greying populations try to offset this by encouraging immigration.

Russia is, however, not a very attractive place to emigrate to. Its image overseas is a violent place punctuated by political murders, rampant neo-nazi movements, Chechen terrorist attacks, heavy-handed state retaliation (Beslan and the Moscow Theater siege come to mind). Meanwhile, the Russian government will not countenance an immigrant-friendly policy either, for reasons unclear (though one can suspect).

Meanwhile, property is not secure in Russia. Look at how the Russian state screws foreign investors over when things are good, the very same foreign investors that it held out the begging bowl for when times were rough. To a foreign investor, Russia is governed by rapacious, kleptocratic ingrates.

If I could buy an emerging markets ETF or index fund that excluded Russia, I would. But I can't, no more than I can buy a developed world ETF that excludes Japan.

How AIG FP Brought Down the World

How about sewing Cassano into a sack and dumping him into the Thames?

Two Asset Classes in Times of Turmoil: Risky and Risk-Free

I am in agreement. Rather than allocating between stocks and bonds, I believe in allocating between safe and risky assets. Safe assets are cash and short-term (less than 5 years maturity) investment-grade bonds denominated in the currency in which I need to spend. Risky assets are everything else - equities, longer-term bonds, high-yield bonds, commodities, real estate.

The Welcome Hike in Bankers' Salaries

How can it be a positive development that once again, bank employees are plundering bank shareholder money? I don't think I will ever directly buy a bank share for the rest of my life.

Chinese Real Estate: Getting in on the Next Bubble

Stock bubbles lead to lots of money wasted. Real estate bubbles lead to death and destruction. Reading this makes me even more leery of China.

What Unites the BRICs? Dollar Envy

Four months doth not an inverse relationship make.

Goldman Forecasts China Ascendancy

Demographics is destiny. Russia has been in population decline for a decade or longer. China is projected to grow old before it gets rich (i.e. its population will have more retirees than workers before it attains First World standards of living). India... the majority of the population is under 30.

How Rising Interest Rates Could Affect ETFs

Is there any asset class that does well in a rising interest-rate environment? I really can't think of any... except perhaps money market funds.

Do We Really Need More Treasury Bond ETF Trackers?

Perhaps the treasury trackers are meant as loss leaders... a short-term TIPS etf would most definitely be intriguing.

The Importance of Earning Dividends

I'm sure I recall some companies who paid dividends with borrowed money... hmm...

Do Dividend Stocks Underperform the Market?

So there are seasons in stock investing too. Dividends go in and out of favour, and it depends which time period you're looking at. Thus, perhaps it's best at the end of the day to simply buy the entire market at the lowest possible cost, and look at total return.

India ETFs and ETNs Are Not the Best Emerging Market Investments

China has the more effective government and a huge warchest of foreign reserves.

India has the more open society and favourable demographics.

I'd put my money on India over China in the long run...

The Curious Case of Goldman’s Disappearing December

How very convenient. Goldman's rights issue is an open invitation to suck- er, investors to fund their employees' BMW payments. They've stated that their main reason for paying back the TARP (oh, apart from their bounden duty to the common weal) is to evade restrictions, such as on executive pay.