McCall’s Call: Beyond FXE In Roiled Markets | ETFs Funds

McCall’s Call: Beyond FXE In Roiled Markets | ETFs Funds

The first half of 2011 has been a rollercoaster ride for currency markets as investors digest news from the U.S and abroad regarding budgets and possible defaults.

The big news in the U.S. has to do with the current debt ceiling and whether the government will raise the current level or begin a move to austerity. And, across the Atlantic, concerns about debt defaults that began in Greece have now spread to Ireland, Spain and most recently, Italy.

Worries about Europe's economic health has put downward pressure on the euro and boosted the dollar. However, on days when the bigger concern is the U.S. deficit, it's the dollar that falls and the euro that rises.

While you can play ETFs like the Rydex CurrencyShares Euro Trust ETF (NYSEArca:FXE) to get a piece of the dollar-euro cross, I'm here to tell you there are plenty of other currency ETFs that can help diversify a portfolio that have nothing to do with this trans-Atlantic dynamic.

So, let's take a look at FXE and some of the other ETFs that allow you to play currencies ranging from the Swiss franc, to the Japanese yen, to the New Zealand dollar, to those from the emerging markets. Read More

Reade more >>

Hedge-Fund Strategies for the Masses | ETFs Funds

Hedge-Fund Strategies for the Masses | ETFs Funds

ETF operators are bringing hedge-fund strategies to the masses with the launch of a dozen alternative-investment exchange-traded funds in recent years. So far, these funds, including WisdomTree Managed Futures Strategy Fund (ticker: WDTI), Credit Suisse Merger Arbitrage Liquid Index ETN (CSMA) and Cambria Global Tactical ETF (GTAA), have attracted about $790 million in assets, according to Morningstar. (ETNs, or exchange-traded notes, trade like ETFs.)

That's a drop in the bucket compared with the $2 trillion hedge-fund industry, but if the stock market remains choppy, investors may increasingly look to these low-correlation—and low-fee—instruments to protect and preserve their assets. "When people can go on Morningstar and look up what their fund holds and see how it's performing, they're a lot more willing to try something different," observes Ken Coniglio, senior vice president at CoreStates Capital Advisors, which manages $340 million for wealthy clients and institutions.

Barron's studied the group to find the best-designed, best-constructed portfolios in each segment. Many of these funds, it bears noting, are new and quite small—but their strategies have been well tested.

As of mid-June, the Credit Suisse Long/Short Liquid ETN (CSLS) was about 93% long and 30% short. Its portfolio follows an index of hedge funds following similar strategies. On a monthly basis, it adjusts holdings to create similar return patterns. Read More

Reade more >>

Matt McCall: The U.S. Dollar Will Continue To Fall (NYSE:GLD, NYSE:SLV, NYSE:UUP, NYSE:IAU, NYSE:AGQ) | ETF DAILY NEWS

Matt McCall: The U.S. Dollar Will Continue To Fall (NYSE:GLD, NYSE:SLV, NYSE:UUP, NYSE:IAU, NYSE:AGQ) | ETF DAILY NEWS

Hard Assets Investor: The president of Penn Financial Group describes the current factors he thinks will push the U.S. dollar down.

Mike Norman (Norman): Hey everybody, and welcome to HardAssetsInvestor.com. I’m Mike Norman, your host, here with my guest today, Matt McCall, who is the president of Penn Financial Group, returning to the show. Matt, it’s been a long time. Welcome back.

Matt McCall, president, Penn Financial Group (McCall): Thanks Mike.

Norman: I wanted to have you here to pick your brain on your outlook on the commodities markets. I know it’s an area that you are very, very active in. And I know that the last time we spoke, you were a major roaring bull in commodities.

That’s played out. But recently, we saw somewhat of a correction, in many areas. Particularly, why don’t we start off with oil, where we saw the market peak out in April around $114. We got down to about, I think, $89-something, seeing a bounceback now. What do you see for oil for the rest of the year? Read More

Reade more >>

7 ETFs to Consider in Anticipation of a U.S. Dollar Collapse | USD/EUR

7 ETFs to Consider in Anticipation of a U.S. Dollar Collapse | USD/EUR

With Uncle Ben renewing his vendetta against the USD/EUR cross, investors need to hedge both their equity risks and also their currency risks. One strategy to consider, is to "trade" the Fed instead of fighting the Fed. When stock markets drop and the dollar rises significantly, expect Mr. Chairsatan to light more money on fire, pushing gold higher (which is not real money apparently to Ben) and stocks up on short squeeze algos. While now may be a good time to buy S&P 500 (SPY) and QQQ put options, once a steep drop in equities emerges, investors have to expect the Fed to step back in to disrupt the free market for stocks and currencies.

While I am not bashing the Fed, I am keenly aware that Mr. Bernanke is not a friend to a free system of price discovery, which is so vital to value investors and those looking to deploy savings into an overvalued stock market. Today's semi-annual conference speech by the Chairman shows that gold is not an issue and that oil prices are not his fault -- he is signaling that QE3 is on the table, but I believe that QE3 is politically untenable. QE2 was a direct tax on the poor and middle class. It did nothing to create jobs, but it made stocks too overvalued to buy, oil and gasoline prices rise, which is a form of taxation, and food and rent costs to soar.

If our aggressive Fed chairman wants to "game the system" and daytrade the global financial markets, expect higher prices for the following ETF's. Additionally, if QE3 is announced, some of these funds should go parabolic. Read More

Reade more >>

The U.S. Dollar and SDR | Foreign Currency ETF's

The U.S. Dollar and SDR | Foreign Currency ETF's

U.S. Dumps Dollars for Special Drawing Rights (SDR)

The Special Drawing Right (SDR) was created by the International Monetary Fund in 1969 to support the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system.

The value of the SDR was initially coupled to one U.S. dollar, which was still pegged to gold (/oz) at the time. But after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1973, the value of the SDR was adjusted to reflect a basket of 16 world currencies.

Today, the SDR is currently pegged to four currencies: the U.S. dollar (44%), euro (34%), Japanese yen (11%), and the British pound (11%).

The SDR is unlike any currency you’re familiar with. SDRs are not backed by assets, nor do they represent a claim on the IMF. Rather, each member agrees to back its SDRs with the full faith and credit of its own government and to accept them in exchange for convertible currencies.

In reality, the SDR is less of a currency and more of an accounting entry. However, the SDR has similar characteristics as money, such as an interest-bearing asset, store of value, and means of settling debt. The SDR is a private currency of sorts – useable and accepted exclusively by IMF member states.

There are no SDRs in physical circulation like the dollars or euros in your pocket; they have an electronic unit of value.

So the SDR can be simply created, instantly, at the will of the IMF board – which is not bound by regulations. Therefore, there is still the threat of inflation as with any regular fiat currency. Read More

Reade more >>

Currency Exchange Traded Funds Trading | Best ETF Funds

Currency Exchange Traded Funds Trading | Best ETF Funds

Currency exchange traded funds (ETFs) are funds which enable traders to profit from the most liquid financial market on this planet, the forex market. Currency ETFs are one of the newest trading instruments available. Just like traditional exchange traded funds, currency ETFs too are traded just like stocks. The only difference is that they track foreign currencies, not indexes or stocks.

ETF firms create currency exchange traded funds by buying and holding foreign currencies in a fund. Then the shares of the fund are made available for traders. Whenever the foreign currency price rises (usually against US Dollar, USD) the whole value of the ETF rises and so as the price of shares. Whenever the foreign currency falls opposite events occurs.

Currently there are number of currency ETFs available for trading which can be classified into three broad categories.ETFs which track Single Currencies: Here each share of the currency ETF represents a fixed amount of a single foreign currency. Examples include British Pound Trust (FXB), CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE), CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust (FXF), Australian Dollar Trust (FXB), CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY), Canadian Dollar Trust (FXC), etc.

ETFs which track a number of currencies: Usually these are currencies which show greater correlations. Examples include PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Bearish (UDN) and PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Bullish (UUP); tracking currencies include Euro (EUR), Japanese Yen (JPY), British Pound (GBP), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Swiss Franc (CHF) and Swedish Krona (SEK). The number and proportion of currencies can vary with fund to fund. Read More

Reade more >>

Top 10 best gold and silver ETF funds 2011

Top 10 best gold and silver ETF funds 2011

Top 10 best gold and silver ETFs that trade on major U.S. exchanges. We’ve ranked them by volume, as some of the niche ETFs in the precious metals market are so thinly traded they can be subject to extreme price volatility or – in some cases – underperformance when compared with the underlying commodities they’re supposed to track.

• Shares Silver Trust (ETF) (NYSE:SLV), Volume 38 million shares
• SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE:GLD), Volume 17.4 million shares
• Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX), Volume 5.8 million shares
• iShares Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE:IAU), Volume 5.2 million shares
• SPDR S&P Metals and Mining (ETF) (NYSE:XME), Volume 2.8 million shares
• Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ), Volume 1.8 million shares
• ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSE:AGQ), Volume 1.59 million shares
• PowerShares DB Gold Double Long ETN (NYSE:DGP), Volume 476,000 shares
• ProShares Ultra Gold (ETF) (NYSE:UGL), Volume 223,000 shares
• ETFS Gold Trust (NYSE:SGOL), Volume 151,000 shares
• Honorable Mention: Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 2X Shares (NYSE:NUGT), Volume 28,500 shares

FULL Information about Top 10 best gold and silver ETF funds 2011

Reade more >>