Tag: iShares Self-Driving EV and Tech ETF (IDRV)

New ETFs Worth Knowing About

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Over the last 25 years, Exchange Traded Funds have seen incredible growth in the number of offerings. The increase is due to the high demand from investors, and because of this, ETF issuers are constantly coming up with new products they feel investors will want.

For example, in September this year, we saw 53 brand-new Exchange Traded Funds offered to investors. As you can see, this seems like issuers are essentially throwing a lot at the wall to see what will stick and what will not.

For the individual investor, it can be hard to dig through all the new offerings and determine which are viable investments and which are unlikely to produce market-beating returns. Today I will point out a few recent ETFs that I think are worth digging deeper into and, at the very least worth knowing, are available for investors to buy.

The first is the Direxion Daily Electric and Autonomous Vehicles Bull 2X Shares ETF (EVAV). This ETF is a two-times leveraged investment focused on the electric vehicle and autonomous driving industry.

We recently saw New York state following California's lead, which will not allow new gas-burning vehicles to be sold in the state starting in 2035. With two of the largest states in the country moving towards banning sales of internal combustion engine-powered vehicles, the only option drivers will have in those states is to buy electric vehicles, pushing demand for EVs higher.

Furthermore, it is unlikely that all states in the US will make these laws with the same timeline, the year 2035, but it is hard to deny that other states won't follow along in some form or fashion.

It also should be noted that the mass adoption of EVs is still probably years away. So while you look at EVAV, investors need to remember that it is a leveraged product. Meaning contango will occur, and thus EVAV is not an investment that should be held for long periods of time.

If you are looking for an ETF that you can buy today and have for decades to come, something like the iShares Self-Driving EV and Tech ETF (IDRV) would be an excellent place to start looking.

Next, I would like to point out the Defiance Daily Short Digitizing the Economy ETF (IBIT). The IBIT is an actively managed fund-of-funds that will offer inverse exposure to the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK). BLOK is an ETF that owns companies focusing on blockchain technology. Continue reading "New ETFs Worth Knowing About" →

General Motors Announcement Changes Everything

Posted on by Matt Thalman

We all know Tesla (TSLA) is a run-away train, but what if I told you General Motors (GM) could soon be not only chasing down Elon Musk but maybe passing him?

OK, all of the Tesla fanatics need to take a deep breath and calm down. The thinking that another “car” company could pass Tesla is not a negative comment against Tesla; it’s the reality that we are now living in a world where electric and other alternative energy vehicles are not “pipe” dreams but reality.

The late January announcement from General Motors that they will no longer sell internal combustion engine vehicles in the United States by 2035 is the writing on the wall that gasoline is ending and EV’s will dominate the road. In 2020 Tesla delivered 499,550 vehicles, which shows that we have demand for EVs even now. Perhaps not like the demand that GM still has for gasoline-powered vehicles. GM sold 7.7 million in 2019, down from the 8.3 million it had sold in 2018 and way off its high of just over 10 million in 2016. These are worldwide sales figures, but regardless GM sold 2.5 million vehicles in the US in 2020.

What’s the point of these figures? Continue reading "General Motors Announcement Changes Everything" →

New President, New Investment Decisions!

Posted on by Matt Thalman

It is said that the first 100 days of a new Presidents term are potentially the most important days of their time in office. This is because, during that first 100 days, they are making all sorts of new policy changes, appointing people to positions, and generally laying out an outline of what they will try to accomplish in the coming years.

Thus far, President Joe Biden has been no different from any President before him. He has written new executive orders, made appointments, and allowed certain arms of the Federal government to have 'more' control of certain things. President Biden's actions have in some small and some large ways already affected your money.

Let's talk about a few things the President has done and how your money has been affected.

To me, one significant move President Biden has taken was appointing former Federal Reserve Chairwoman, Janet Yellen, to the Secretary of the Treasury. This appointment to me instilled faith, trust, and a lean toward dovish economic policies in the near term as the country continues to get past the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has probably given your portfolio as a whole a mild boost higher.

More recently, the Biden administration has, in others words, 'taken the handcuffs' off the CDC. It was reported that under the Trump administration, the CDC was 'hushed' and dealt with push-back about certain recommendations they wanted to implement during the pandemic. Now that Biden is in office, the CDC quickly announced orders that required masks to be worn on all forms of public transportation, which the Trump administration apparently did not allow. More so than that, the CDC reported that it was investigating requiring a negative Covid-19 test before allowing any passenger board any domestic flight. Continue reading "New President, New Investment Decisions!" →

Own Tesla Without All Of The Risk

Posted on by Matt Thalman

If you are like most investors, you have been watching the historic, mind-blowing run Tesla has had in 2020. Or maybe you didn't realize that Tesla Inc. (TSLA) is up more than 429% since the start of 2020. Yes, you read that correctly, Tesla is up more than 400% during a time when most companies are struggling due to the pandemic and business shutdowns the country dealt with back in the spring.

But, after seeing that sort of performance, you must be asking yourself one of two questions. First, can this continue? And is it worth the risk of buying Tesla, at let's say an all-time high, and having the stock roll-over on me days or weeks after dumping money into it?

Well, yes, Tesla can theoretically continue to run higher. I am not saying that it will or that it will not. What I am saying is, is that yes, it could continue running higher. But to the point of whether it is worth the risk, well, the same can be said. Tesla could roll over tomorrow and lose 50% in a matter of days or weeks.

So, the real question is, "how can I buy Tesla without taking on so much risk"? Continue reading "Own Tesla Without All Of The Risk" →