Tag: matt thalman

Shark Tank's "Kevin O'Leary" Has A New Fund

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Kevin O’Leary is best known for his antics on Shark Tank, but to those on Wall Street, he is known for his more conservative approach to investing. O’Leary started his O’Shares ETF Investment firm back in 2015 and launched the firm's first fund the O’Shares FTSE U.S. Quality Dividend ETF (OUSA). A month after releasing that fund he rolled out two more, the O’Shares FTSE Europe Quality Dividend ETF (OEUR) and the O’Shares FTSE Asia Pacific Quality Dividend ETF (OASI).

His next two ETF’s came in 2016 and 2017 and if perhaps you could guess what phrase was in the name of both of those? Quality Dividend!

The O’Shares FTSE Russell Small Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) starting trading December 30th, 2016 while the O’Shares FTSE Russell International Quality Dividend ETF (ONTL) began trading on March 22nd, 2017.

The first five funds O’Leary has rolled out focused on companies with strong balance sheets, and that paid a nice dividend, what most investors would refer to as “conservative” investments. But, his newest ETF, the O’Shares Global Internet Giants ETF (OGIG), is a lot less about quality dividends and more about quality business and growth potential. So, O’Leary is still looking for quality businesses, but with more growth opportunity than dividend income like his past ETF’s. Continue reading "Shark Tank's "Kevin O'Leary" Has A New Fund" →

Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Rejected Again

Posted on by Matt Thalman

In March of 2017 the Winklevoss twins had their first Bitcoin ETF proposal rejected and now the second Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF proposal was dismissed in July of 2018 by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The reason all of this matter is because the Winklevoss twins where the first to have the SEC rule on a Bitcoin ETF back in 2017, and now that their proposal has been rejected for a second time things are starting to look a little bleak for investors who want a Bitcoin ETF.

First and foremost, the Securities and Exchange Commission that made the ruling expressed concern about Bitcoin’s trading reliability and security; two significant issues which don’t appear to be easy fixes anytime soon. The commission went on to say “The record before the commission indicates that a substantial majority of bitcoin trading occurs on unregulated venues overseas that are relatively new and that, generally, appear to trade only digital assets.” The commission stated that more then 75% of Bitcoin trading happens on unregulated foreign exchanges.

But, the commission did note that regulated Bitcoin markets are in their early stages of development and that if they further grow, the commission would then review the idea of allowing a Bitcoin ETF based on SEC requirements. Continue reading "Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Rejected Again" →

Bitcoin Helped ARK Win 'Top ETF' in 2017

Posted on by Matt Thalman

ETF.com’s “ETF of The Year” award went to the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) for 2017. The award was given to ARKK for a number of reasons, but the top two were due to its exposure to disruptive technology in 2017 and its strong performance. Both of those key metrics for winning the award were partly due to the fund's exposure to Bitcoin.

ARKK owned Bitcoin through buying shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC). ARKK had anywhere between 6% and 10% of its assets in GBTC during 2017 while the cryptocurrency rose higher during the end of last year. During that time Bitcoin was often ARKK’s top holding. This helped the fund produce an 85% return for investors in 2017. Just for comparison, GBTC was up roughly 1,550% in 2017.

What’s more interesting though is that while GBTC is now down more than 65% year-to-date in 2018, ARKK is up more than 21% this year. The main reason for this reversal is because sometime in January of 2018 ARKK’s management team started selling their position in GBTC. As of today, ARKK still has a small position in GBTC, but it represents just 0.26% of the fund's assets.

ARK, the issuer of the ARKK ETF recently told ETF.com that it was a “complicated decision” to cut its Bitcoin investments, but that it was driven largely by regulatory and tax concerns, more so than the true “merits” of Bitcoin. Continue reading "Bitcoin Helped ARK Win 'Top ETF' in 2017" →

Top ETFs For The First Half Of 2018

Posted on by Matt Thalman

2018 has been a wild year with the bursting of the Bitcoin Bubble, some President Trump induced rallies and declines, trade war fears, North Korean diplomacy and the Facebook data scandal. But most all of, after the stock market rallying for years, its beginning to show signs of sluggishness as the S&P 500 is up a mere 0.84% during the first half of 2018.

But despite the weakness of the overall market, some investors, with the help of a few Exchange Traded Funds have made money during the first half of the year. Let us take a look at the top four, non-leveraged, non-VIX ETF’s during the first half of 2018.

The best performing non-leveraged, non-VIX ETF was the Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF (PSCH) which rose by 30.62%. Over the last 12 months, PSCH is up more than 45% after climbing an additional 16% during the most recent three months. The fund owns small cap stocks which operate in the healthcare sector and currently more then 75% of the assets are in companies that have a market cap smaller than $2.7 billion. The fund tends to lean towards healthcare equipment companies and healthcare providers more so than drug companies. The averagely weighted market cap is just $2.5 billion. The fund currently has $752 million in assets under management and 74 holdings. The top three holdings are Chemed Corp. (CHE), Haemonetics Corp. (HAE), and Neogen Corp. (NEOG). The funds top ten stocks make up 33% of assets, and it will cost an investor 0.29% to own PSCH on a yearly basis.

An aging population which is living longer than any other generation before it tends to be good for the healthcare industry. While PSCH may not end the year as the top ETF, it is indeed one you could buy now and feel comfortable owning for years to come. Continue reading "Top ETFs For The First Half Of 2018" →

Oil and Gas ETFs Are Having a Good 2018

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Thus far in 2018, the oil and gas industry has been booming. Rig counts in the US are up, prices at the pump are up, and the oil and gas ETFs tracking the sector are up by a lot.

Investors who have been following the industry over the past year could have made some serious money as a few of the leveraged ETFs are up 238% or more. The Velocity Shares 3X Long Crude Oil ETN (UWT) is up 247% over the last 12 months and is up more than 70% year-to-date. The UBS ETRACS ProShares Daily 3X Long Crude ETN (WTIU) has risen 240% over the last year and 64% year-to-date. Finally, the Proshares UltraPro 3X Crude Oil ETF (OILU) is up 238% over the last 12 months and 63% year-to-date.

But, perhaps your less risky and don’t like investing in the leveraged ETFs? Well, you still could have done well as the United States Brent Oil Fund LP (BNO) is up 71% over the last year and 19.9% since the start of 2018. Or perhaps you went with the ProShares K-1 Free Crude Oil Strategy ETF (OILK) which is up 62% in the past 12 months and 23% year-to-date. Or either the iPath Series B S&P GSCI Crude Oil ETN (OILB) or the United States Oil Fund LP (USO) which are both up more than 61% over the last year and 23% year-to-date.

There have been some reasons why the industry has been on a tear over the last, and many of that reason don’t show signs of changing in the short term. OPEC is committed to increasing the price of oil (despite its recent modest increase in production), smaller US outfits still need slightly higher prices before they can add additional rigs and become profitable, the economy appears to be healthy and growing, US consumers have not yet begun to fell the “pain at the pump” again really. Continue reading "Oil and Gas ETFs Are Having a Good 2018" →