Herb Blank In 2018, the General Industry Classification System (GICS) that defines the sector and industry groups of the S&P 500 made major changes to better reflect the changing global stock market environment. The primary change was the creation of the Communications Services sector and elimination of a separate Telecommunications Services Sector. All of the approximately 5,000 … Read more
The third quarter was a tale of two halves. The market staged what turned out to be a bear market rally throughout July and the first two weeks of August. Then it was as if somebody blew a whistle. The next six weeks saw the bear return with a vengeance. The ETF reports on ValuEngine … Read more
According to Investopedia, the industry that is best equipped historically to deal with a rising interest-rate environment is banks. Generally, higher rates have led to wider spreads which in turn have led to higher profits for regional and money center banks. Therefore, we looked through Bank ETFs to see which ones our models found attractive … Read more
Six months ago, I discussed ways that investors could stay invested with one eye squarely on wealth preservation in a risk-on environment. We are still in a risk-on environment where the choices we reviewed in March are still relevant. One half of the list included five stock-based ETFs without derivatives that focus on stocks with … Read more
Do Not Be Alarmed By the Closing of JP Morgan Indexed ETFs. I say this even as I say that I believe this may be part of an emerging trend. Many mutual fund companies that are known for touting active management but stuck their feet in the water with ETFs will likely follow suit. The … Read more
The list of best performing equity ETFs in the US thus far this year has been dominated by two categories: 1. Leveraged/Inverse – almost always the case by definition and 2. Single industry/sector – including energy, utilities, defense, and insurance et al. Leveraged and inverse ETFs are short-term trading tools that are very rarely, if … Read more
There was a hilarious Match.com commercial at the end of 2020 where the year, portrayed by Kristen Bell, became a perfect match for Satan. This is exactly how many equity investors felt about the first half of 2022. 2020 turned out to be a good year for the market as the government stepped in with … Read more
With the S&P 500 now officially in bear market territory, a major specter hanging over the market right now is the prospect of recession. Many experts say it is now inevitable. Morningstar’s research legend John Rekenthaler explained in a column Thursday that this bear market does not necessarily portend a recession and I agree. An underlying … Read more
I have written a lot in my blog analyzing and differentiating ESG, sustainable and impact ETFs. In 2020 and 2021 on a percentage basis, this segment was among the fastest growing in the ETF marketplace. Moreover, during most of that time, the market performance of these funds validated the concept that investing in ESG ETFs … Read more
The history of QQQ, Invesco QQQ Trust, is that it was a game-changer from the very start. Beginning in 1999 with the development of the Nasdaq-100 index by John Jacobs, then a Nasdaq executive and now a professor at Georgetown and Steven Bloom, the product was an overnight success. It was Jacobs’ vision to take … Read more