Six-Month Update – Wealth Preservation with Limited Market Participation in a Risk-On Environment

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

Should You Consider Buying Single-Stock ETFs?

The following news item is an excerpt from an Investment News Article dated August 18, 2022. The full article can be viewed HERE. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced a ‘sweep’ of firms offering the new ETFs, which he compared to gambling at a casino. With the first single-stock ETFs only about a month … Read more

Do Not Be Alarmed By the Closing of JP Morgan Indexed ETFs.

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

Best Performing ETF’s Year-to-Date 2022

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

Good Riddance to the First Half of 2022: What next?

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

Traditional Values-Driven ETFs

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 Many Faces of QQQ

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

Navigating the Volatility Vortex – How Well Have Safe Harbor ETFs Performed?

In the past January Year-End review, I noted that ValuEngine models were predicting a down market for 2022.  In March, as fears of interest rate hikes, continued runaway inflation and global implications of the Russian invasion played on investors’ minds, I wrote a column specifically on potential safe harbors in the wake of the perfect … Read more

Rotating Industry and Strategy ETFs YTD 2022

Between inflation skyrocketing beyond expectations, the drumbeats of war and increasing global sanctions on Russian Oil, macroeconomic themes have dominated the 2022 stock market 15 weeks into the year.  Throwing out derivatives-based ETFs, the top 11 US ETFs ranked by price performance this year are primarily focused on energy companies.   All of the approximately 5,000 … Read more

2nd Quarter US Benchmark ETF Update

The first quarter was rather turbulent. But given the unexpected burst of inflation and the savage Russian invasion of the Ukraine, the final price reading of the S&P 500 of -5.2% comes almost as a relief.  A late rally in March mitigated the overall damage The ETF reports on ValuEngine that follow market benchmarks provide … Read more