Don’t Forget Index Trading Costs
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  Courtesy of Paul Amery Remember to check the assumptions made for the cost of trading when examining a new index concept.  ( Editor note: read between the lines, even though the phrase “best execution” is missing from this piece, the article should inspire thoughtful consideration re what true best execution entails). Vanguard’s warning of […] Read More

26 July, 2012

Taker-Maker Cupcake Baker- Nasdaq BX Options Fee Scheme Takes…
In Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  Courtesy of Peter Chapman/TradersMagazine The launch of the Nasdaq OMX BX options exchange, at the end of June, marked not only the debut of the industry’s 10th exchange, but an expansion of the use of taker-maker pricing. In contrast to the conventional maker-taker pricing model whereby exchanges pay liquidity providers and charge liquidity takers, […] Read More

25 July, 2012

Euro-Zone ETFs-One Expert’s Contrarian Perspective
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
According to today’s NY Times, one of the world’s savviest investors is once again taking a contrarian view, and this time its Europe. While Wall Street is continuing to wave a yellow flag whenever investing in European markets is discussed (after all, the widely-advertised risk of  “Greece contagion” remains at the forefront of most institutional […] Read More

23 July, 2012

Post Peregrine Financial Fraud: Futures ETFs Offer Safe Haven…
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Courtesy of Cinthia Murphy In connection with all that news re futures broker Peregrine Financial’s fraud-induced collapse, Sal Gilbertie, head of Teucrium Funds—an ETF provider offering futures-based commodities ETFs—told IndexUniverse’s Correspondent Cinthia Murphy that futures-based ETFs might be the answer to retail investors’ futures-related concerns . Gilbertie, whose firm sponsors the red-hot, $100 million Teucrium […] Read More

20 July, 2012

SEC Punts on Payments to ETF Market Makers
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Courtesy of Rosalyn Retkwa   The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to decide yet whether to approve proposals by Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange to pay market makers to make better markets in thinly traded ETFs. The proposals would require an exemption from a current prohibition against such payments. Rather than approving […] Read More

18 July, 2012

June ETF Short Report: ‘Q’s’ Shorts Drop 42%
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Courtesy of Olly Ludwig Short-sellers last month significantly cut their bets against an array of the broadest U.S. stock indexes, which looks quite sensible in the rearview mirror considering both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrials average rallied by nearly 4 percent in June. While financial markets are again on tenterhooks over the […] Read More

13 July, 2012

How NOT to Execute Your ETF Block Order..Best Ex…
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Editor note: For those who didn’t get the”Best Ex Meets Worst Ex” memo,  Ugo Egbunike from IndexUniverse spotlighted a block trade in QAI this past Monday that was apparently mangled by the executing broker, illustrating once again that ETFs are NOT stocks, and real best execution requires guidance from a truly-professional trader that actually knows […] Read More

12 July, 2012

A New ETF Managed By ‘Random Roger’
In Global Macro Strategy> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Courtesy of Brendan Conway Once upon a time, exchange-traded funds were simple index trackers. Nowadays you see the launch of products like the AdvisorShares Global Alpha & Beta ETF (RRGR). This actively managed exchange-traded fund, which launched on NYSE Arca today, is built to reflect manager Roger Nusbaum’s ”tactical” and “global asset-allocation strategy (and his stock picks), […] Read More

12 July, 2012

HARD is On:Currency-Centric ETF
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
by Cinthia Murphy United States Commodity Funds, the firm behind the $1.25 billion U.S. Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO), filed paperwork with U.S. regulators to market its first currency fund, this one a futures-based currency ETF that would serve up exposure to a basket of five currencies at a time. The U.S. Golden Currency Fund (NYSEArca: […] Read More

10 July, 2012

Cash Management ETFs Will Boom..
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Commentary below courtesy of Paul Amery, IndexUniverse.eu Forbes columnist Ari Weinberg points out that bond ETFs should be seen as the “money market fund of tomorrow”, and he’s right. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are well-positioned to make significant inroads into the US$2.7 trillion money market fund (MMF) sector, which is fighting a fierce rearguard action to […] Read More

5 July, 2012

ISE Lifts a Leg: Plans to Introduce Yet Another…
In Strike Price, Tech Talk> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
The International Securities Exchange (ISE), the venue that bills itself as the first all-electronics options exchange in the United States will open a second by year’s end. The company has has filed a Form 1 application for a second exchange license with the Securities and Exchange Commission. No details about the products to be traded, […] Read More

5 July, 2012

UBS breaks ETF launch record
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  UBS is aiming to break into Europe’s exchange-traded fund big league following the listing of 64 of its funds on the London Stock Exchange, the largest number ever admitted to the LSE on a single day. According to the LSE, the launch, which follows the listing of a suite of products by Vanguard Asset […] Read More

28 June, 2012

Exchanges Duel With Newcomers Over Trading Transparency; Payment for…
In Tech Talk> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  June 26, By Nathaniel Popper MarketsMuse Editor Note: In what might prove to be the catalyst for even greater scrutiny of securities industry practices re market transparency, below extracts of article from front page of NY Times June 26 Business Section i.e. profile “lit” v. “dark” liquidity centers–and the nuances by which investor order […] Read More

27 June, 2012

MLPs: What You Didn’t Know-ETP Insight From An Expert
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
It took only 18 months for assets in MLP exchange traded products to grow from almost nothing to nearly $7.5bb. What’s more amazing is that while the number of ETPs available in the market has grown significantly, nearly all of the inflow of assets into MLP ETPs has been captured by only 2 funds: AMJ–JPMorgan […] Read More

26 June, 2012

ETFs Passive No More in Challenge to $7.8 Trillion…
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
By Christopher Condon on June 26, 2012 Exchange-traded funds are posing a new threat to the $7.8 trillion market for active mutual funds by challenging the notion ETFs are only good for tracking benchmarks. The $552 million First Trust Health Care AlphaDex Fund (FXH) (FXH), offered by Wheaton, Illinois-based First Trust Portfolios LP, follows an […] Read More

26 June, 2012

J.P. Morgan Alerian Fund ETN (AMJ) Already Shows Premium
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Brendan Conway, June 22, 2012, 11:16 A.M. ET The popular exchange-traded note whose share issuance was capped last week by J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) is already trading at a premium. Investors who hold the JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index exchange-traded note (AMJ) can either cash out now with unexpected profits or they can ride the note’s unusual mechanics higher […] Read More

22 June, 2012

Blackstone’s GSO Preps Leveraged-Loan ETF With State Street
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Published June 21, 2012 Dow Jones Newswires Blackstone Group (BX) unit GSO Capital Partners has filed paperwork to launch the first actively managed exchange-traded fund dedicated to high-yield corporate loans, apparently sensing demand for floating-rate loans secured on company assets amid exaggerated price swings in fixed-rate “junk” bonds. GSO, based in New York, filed preliminary […] Read More

21 June, 2012

Short TVIX: The Ultimate VIX Contango Trade
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
June 19, 2012 Contango is Back The volatility futures curve is back in strong contango, and with it an opportunity to profit from the short trade on volatility linked ETFs/ETNs. For a primer on this trade, see previous articles here and here, but in short it’s an attempt to profit from the bias of investors […] Read More

20 June, 2012