It was a rather quiet week on Wall Street, with the major averages finishing slightly lower in the final trading day of February. For the week, the Dow closed essentially flat, down just 0.04% while the S&P 500 finished the week lower by just 0.27%. The NASDAQ Composite ended up in positive territory on the […]

How Risky are ETFs? As a newsletter writer and as an investment advisor who advocates the use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as the best tools to get all types of asset-class exposure, I am often asked about the risks associated with such funds. Just how risky are ETFs, and what do you need to know

“Nobody, I mean NOBODY puts ketchup on a hot dog.” –“Dirty Harry,” in Sudden Impact Although it is true that nobody should ever put ketchup on a hot dog, sometimes it’s true that doing things differently than everyone else will allow you to change the world. In fact, looking at the world differently, and doing

At the beginning of the year, I told Weekly ETF Report readers, as well as subscribers to my Successful ETF Investing newsletter, that I thought 2015 would be the year that international ETFs would outperform domestic ETFs. So far, that prediction has proved prescient, as a widely held international ETF, the iShares MSCI EAFE Index

Many exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer a special focus. One way such funds accomplish this goal is by investing in stocks on a market-capitalization basis. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), which exclusively holds small-cap positions, uses this method. IWN models its portfolio after the Russell 2000 Index, a widely used market measure that tracks 2,000

As a newsletter writer and as an investment advisor who advocates the use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as the best tools to get all types of asset-class exposure, I am often asked about the risks associated with such funds. Just how risky are ETFs, and what do you need to know about this risk? The

Through the first three trading days of the holiday-shortened week, the action in domestic stocks was basically dull. The major averages pretty much muddled through most of the week, until about midway through the Friday session. That’s when things started to get interesting, as an agreement was reached between Greece and the eurozone finance ministers […]

The Smartest Investors use Smart-Beta ETFs What’s the biggest trend in ETF land these days? It’s called smart-beta ETFs. These ETFs provide a twist on traditional indexed ETFs, and they’re an interesting alternative to traditional, market-cap-weighted index funds. One of the most common types of smart-beta funds are those that offer equal weighting, meaning each

“‘Emergencies’ have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded.” — Friedrich August von Hayek Whenever you hear politicians take “emergency” action, you’d better keep a sharp eye out on your money — and your freedom. Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have