Indexor

ETF Trends: New Reality Weighs on Investors and Stocks

Excellent article. I appreciate the sharing of your trend work on such a broad array of asset classes, especially Bonds and Sectors, which are often overlooked. Your Momentum and Market Diary numbers are also routinely ignored by many but actually can provide very good tells. Thank you.

Just 5 ETFs and You're Set? Buy-n-Hold Silliness Still Carries On

Gary:

Consider your sources: John Bogle? Motley Fool?? Money Magazine???

It might be time to broaden your information horizons.

Six Month Correlation Among iShares ETFs

Richard:

Thanks for the data, as the last 6-month time frame has changed many of these correlations considerably. Apparently, several readers are either new to investing and not familiar with correlation tables, or simply feel it is their job to complain. In any event, I appreciate your efforts in this post and the many others you have provided here.

How to Use Bond ETFs

Good post Tom. I'll have to add that new asset class - "Hunk" bonds to my watch list. And I suppose I'll have to delineate between steroid and non-steroid hunk bonds as well. Could this be a ploy by female advisors to make bonds less boring for the above poster - bluesmoke?

Bond ETF Yields in Historical Context

Richard:

Excellent post. But then again, your posts are always informative and educational, often with a bit of humor thrown in for good measure. Your charts put the truth out there in black and white, whether we like the results...or not.

Here's an additional fact on MUB and all muni bond ETF holding periods that you might find useful:

You must hold Muni ETFs for 6 months before harvesting losses. Any
losses realized under the 6-month time frame will first have all the tax-exempt income that is received, deducted from that loss. Only then will additional losses qualify as a short-term capital loss.

15 Key Types of Bond ETFs: 2008 Review

Steve:

You want Intermediate-term corporate bond ETFs?

iShares - Barclays Intermediate Credit Bond ETF (CIU)

also consider:

iShares - Barclays 1-3 Year Credit Bond ETF (CSJ)
iShares - Barclays Credit Bond ETF (CFT)


If you're willing to accept a combination of Government/Credit Bonds:

Vanguard - Intermediate-Term Bond Index ETF (BIV)
iShares - Barclays Intermediate Government/Credit Bond ETF (GVI)
iShares - Barclays Government/Credit Bond ETF (GBF)

Muni Bonds: Constructive in Current Portfolio Asset Allocation

Excellent information. Thank you for your efforts.

You Can't Trust Bond ETFs for the Time Being

Jim: iShares Muni Bond ETF (MUB) had the same problem. It appears the iShares fixed-income department is broken and may even be signaling that ETFs are not the right vehicle for fixed-income products. They have never proven liquid enough to trade more than a few hundred shares without moving the price, sometimes substantially. Of course recently, the spreads were not only a joke but the inability to sell positions even at the current bid was impossible. The discount to NAV problem was never addressed by iShares, it was simply abandoned. MUB lost 3% in the final two hours of trading one day last week while the NAV saw little change.

Sadly, after a negative experience with the iShares High Yield Bond ETF in July of '07, and now both AGG and MUB as well as BND, I'm done with fixed-income ETFs. I stopped using all Closed-End Funds several years ago for the exact same reasons. And If equity ETFs don't stop loaning out shares and start replicating their indices, there will no longer be any reason to use them going forward either.

What a sad way to destroy a fast growing industry which offered so much promise.

Bond Specialist PIMCO Files to Enter ETF Marketplace

Congrats to Bill Gross for FINALLY changing his mind about ETFs. Although iShares has done an excellent job of leading the fixed-income charge, PIMCO has the horsepower to make "true" actively managed ETFs a reality. Their global capability also bodes well for additional strategies down the road that will only enhance the options for institutions, advisors and individual investors alike.

Finally, access to PIMCO's expertise without the alphabet soup of A shares, B shares, C shares.....