ETF Investing Archives - Page 41 of 42

How To React When The World Is Coming To An End

Posted on July 18, 2015July 17, 2015 by Matt Thalman

Just a few weeks ago it would have appeared the world was on the brink of another major financial crash; tensions in Europe and concerns about Greece leaving the Euro were increasing, China's stock market was crashing, and it appeared Puerto Rico would not be able to pay its debts, just to name the big concerns bringing fear to the world financial markets.

Well, fast forward to today and for the most part those concerns have all but dissipated; it would seem Greece and the rest of Europe have come to some sort of agreement at least for the time being, China's government stepped in and put policies in place to attempt to stop its market from crashing, and Puerto Rico has paid most of its debt's and even though it defaulted on one, the market hasn't seemed to care. The major indexes are again nearing all-time highs. The S&P 500 is above 2,120 and the Dow Jones is at about 18,100.

Again this was another great example of why when the world seems to be falling apart and others are panicking, the best reaction is to stay calm and continue trudging on. Anytime we go through this sort of situation, I always go back to my favorite Warren Buffett "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful." Continue reading "How To React When The World Is Coming To An End" →

3 Niche Technology ETF's You Don't Know About and Are Worth Owning

Posted on June 30, 2015June 29, 2015 by Matt Thalman

Every day I am more and more amazed by not only the number of ETF's available to investors, but how specific their investment strategies have become. The ETF industry has almost grown to the point that nearly not only every industry, but every niche segment of every industry has its own ETF tracking companies who operate in that field.

I recently highlighted a little-known ETF called PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK), which invests in companies who are making software and hardware to help others increase their own cyber security and fight hackers. Since the cyber security field is likely going to continue to show massive growth rates, investors buying into the fund today and holding on, can benefit from those growth rates without worrying about picking a losing company and missing out on the big winners.

I have recently found a few more hidden technology ETF's that investors should at the very least take a look at, if not consider owning. Continue reading "3 Niche Technology ETF's You Don't Know About and Are Worth Owning" →

1 ETF That Could Turn The Fear Of Cyber Attacks Into A Fortune

Posted on June 23, 2015June 25, 2015 by Matt Thalman

Over the last few weeks news about the Federal Government data hack has caused a lot of fear and worry from not only the over 4 million current and prior government employees, but all Americans. The thinking is that if hackers can break into the US government databases and retrieve very sensitive personal data on current and past employees, what can't they hack into?

Well it seems like the hackers can and have gained access to nearly whomever they want. Besides the recent hack of the US Government, other notable high-profile hacks over the past few years consist of JPMorgan Chase in 2014; Home Depot in 2014; Target in 2013; Visa and MasterCard in 2012 have all seen their computer systems broken into. In most of these cases banking, credit card and debit card information, was stolen. But, with the US Government hack, it appears all sorts of personal information such as names, addresses, social-security numbers and more were targeted. (With that information the hackers can do a lot more damage to an individual than just run up some credit card bills.)

This well-deserved fear has led many investors into wondering how they can turn this bad situation into an investment opportunity. One could start by buying shares of cyber security software firms like FireEye, Palo Alto Networks, and Frontinet, or by buying the hardware manufacturers like Cisco Systems or Juniper Networks. But with that strategy the issue is correcting picking the right company or companies that will benefit the most from the increasing demand for cyber security. Continue reading "1 ETF That Could Turn The Fear Of Cyber Attacks Into A Fortune" →

Move Over Hedge Funds, ETF's Are Taking Over

Posted on May 29, 2015June 17, 2015 by Matt Thalman

Ease of use and open access, transparency, lower costs, and frankly better performance by ETF's compared to hedge funds is causing a massive shift in the way small and more importantly large institutions invest. Early in May, the amount of funds in global ETF's, which have only been around for just the past 22 years, topped $3 trillion. May also has marked the first time ETF's total asset value topped that of the 66 year old investment vehicle known as hedge funds, which currently sit around $2.9 trillion globally.

While mutual funds still dominate the investment world with more than $15 trillion in assets under US managed funds, ETF's certainly appear to be heading as the clear #2 in terms of total dollars invested. The industry has seen massive growth over the past few years, specifically in the US; 2013 US ETF assets rose by $188 billion, 2014 that figure jumped to $243 billion, and at the start of May year-to-date US inflow were already at $72 billion, which is a must faster start than experienced in 2014 when only $35 billion had been pumped into ETF's from the start of January to the beginning of May.

While the massive growth in ETF's over just the past five years is astonishing, due to the four qualities they offer which hedge funds don't, it shouldn’t be of a surprise that their popularity has and will continue to grow. So let's take a look at the four qualities. Continue reading "Move Over Hedge Funds, ETF's Are Taking Over" →

2 Small And 1 Big Mistakes ETF Investors Make

Posted on May 22, 2015May 22, 2015 by Matt Thalman

In life we all make mistakes. Some are small and don't really matter much, others are larger and the consequences last longer. When it comes to investing, the same holds true. And since mistakes will most certainly be made both in life and in investing, regardless of how careful we are, in an attempt to help you make fewer mistakes when it comes to ETF investing I have put together a list of the top three biggest mistakes ETF investors make. Two of them will be minor mistakes, while the last will be a big one that could substantially hurt an investor's long-term performance.

Not looking at Funds Holdings

While the number of ETF's having grown over the past few years is great, giving investors hundreds of options to choose from, it has also caused a lot of confusion. There are now ETF's that track all the indexes, ever industry, commodities, international markets, futures, bonds; the list can go on and on and although just because an ETF has certain name, doesn't mean that is the end all of what it invests in or that its holdings are not overweight certain assets compared to the rest of its holdings. I have written about this problem in the past, pointing out that a lot of funds are massively overweight Apple Inc. (AAPL). Continue reading "2 Small And 1 Big Mistakes ETF Investors Make" →

Tag: ETF Investing