I have spent 40 years helping to develop, research and market quantitative investment products with new twists. The advent of alternative data including the use of web-gathered information introduced new products in that regard. This has led to published papers in refereed journals such as “Using Alternative Research Data in Real World Portfolios” using data … Read more
I feel deluged lately by webinars and events touting investments in gold and precious metals. One theory pushed to support investment in these industry groups is that 1974 is here again. They claim it is inevitable that the market will tank further as the economy plunges into stagflation, a deeper recession accompanied by huge inflation … Read more
This year Aerospace stands out as one of the few industry sectors with a positive return other than energy and utilities. For example, the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA), the largest ETF by assets representing the industry, returned 15.2% over the past twelve months in contrast to the -13.6% return posted by … Read more
In 2022, the majority of stocks and stock ETFs that have outperformed their peer groups were classified as value, high income, or both. That may or may not continue into the future. Last week, a colleague who prefers investing in stocks to ETFs asked me if I knew any stocks that the ValuEngine model ranked … Read more
An excellent ETF.com article was posted on September 22. “NYC Comptroller: Blackrock ESG Standards Alarming” highlighted a very public effort by Brad Lander to shame Blackrock into being more environmentally conscious. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander demands the company bolster its climate disclosures and publish a plan that establishes its commitment to net-zero greenhouse … 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
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. 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