Black Swan ETFs Debut
In ETF News, Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
by Michael Johnston on May 31, 2012 Innovation in the ETF industry has become standard over the past several years, with countless first-to-market products opening up new asset classes and strategies. And it turns out that the U.S. isn’t the only place where product development is going full throttle; our neighbors to the north have […] Read More

31 May, 2012

The Pros and Cons of Options Exchange Proliferation ::…
In Strike Price, Tech Talk> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Good op-ed courtesy of TabbForum re: debate about whether having yet more options exchanges makes sense, or is just plain silly. The Pros and Cons of Options Exchange Proliferation :: TabbFORUM – Where Capital Markets Speak. Read More

29 May, 2012

Consolidated Tape Moves Step Closer In European ETF Space
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
    iShares, the exchange-traded fund provider, and data vendor Bloomberg have joined forces to offer a consolidated tape for ETFs in a bid to increase post-trade transparency and limit the effects of market fragmentation in Europe. As part of the joint venture, the first of its kind in the European ETF market, Bloomberg will […] Read More

29 May, 2012

Jacques Cousteau grandson floats ETF
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Jacques Cousteau’s grandson is the newest member of the exchange-traded-fund world. Philippe Cousteau, the grandson of the famed conservationist, has teamed up with ETF provider AdvisorShares Investments LLC to launch an actively managed socially conscious ETF. Mr. Cousteau won’t have anything to do with managing the newly minted AdvisorShares Global Echo ETF (GIVE). Forty basis […] Read More

25 May, 2012

Red Kite Warns Copper ETF Would ‘Wreak Havoc’
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  May 25 2012 | 3:26am ET Metals trading hedge fund RK Capital Management has thrown down the gauntlet to JPMorgan Chase over the latter’s plan to launch a physical copper exchange-traded fund. Lawyers for the firm, which runs the Red Kite hedge funds, warned the Securities and Exchange Commission that the ETF would inflate […] Read More

25 May, 2012

Social Media ETF Index Weights Facebook (FB) at 8.8%
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  The Solactive Social Media Index, the index tracked by the Global X Social Media Index ETF (Nasdaq: SOCL), has allocated 8.8% of its weight to Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), according to Global X. The Global X Social Media Index ETF, the lone ETF devoted exclusively to the burgeoning social media ETF, has been widely viewed […] Read More

25 May, 2012

As Market Sagged in Q1, Many Hedge Funds Held…
In ETF News, Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  It is no secret hedge funds have been using exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to make directional bets on a broad market index or a specific industry group. They frequently buy “call” options or hedge with “put” options. Sometimes they hedge by shorting the funds outright. This said, one of the interesting unnoticed themes to emerge […] Read More

23 May, 2012

iShares Files for new Latin America Bond ETF
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
iShares, the global leader in ETF assets and total number of funds, appears to be continuing its bond ETF push with its latest SEC filing. In the release, the company revealed plans for a new emerging market bond fund, targeting the quickly growing region of Latin America. If approved, the fund would be just the […] Read More

22 May, 2012

What’s Next?..Options Trading On Facebook (FB)
In Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Options on Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) will be available as early as May 29th. With volatile price action in FB after its IPO, traders will look to options strategies to profit In the next several months FB is going to face pressure to grow into its current 100 Billion dollar valuation. As a growth stock trading […] Read More

18 May, 2012

Are Junk Bond ETFs Sending Signals? (HYG, JNK, SJNK)
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
By The ETF Professor Benzinga Staff Writer The proliferation of new junk bond ETFs in 2012 has been nothing short of impressive and two industry stalwarts, BlackRock’s (NYSE: BLK) iShares and Van Eck Global’s Market Vectors unit, have been leading the charge. But it is some of the more seasoned high-yield bonds that are catching […] Read More

18 May, 2012

Top Managers Find Better Ways to Trade Tiny ETFs
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
By Murray Coleman Heading into this month, just 25 funds held 61% of all the assets in U.S.-listed ETFs–and there are more than 1,458 on the market right now, according to investment researcher XTF Global. That herd-like mentality is credited by analysts to an emphasis–some say an overemphasis–on size and liquidity. A growing number of […] Read More

18 May, 2012

Covered Call Portfolios-Lower Volatility, Better Performance
In ETF News, Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
For those not aware, the bloom is off the rose right now as equity markets are on track to record the biggest string of down days in a long time.  With the media distracting every investor re: FB’s IPO, the fact is, equities markets in general are confounding long-only fund managers. The good news is […] Read More

17 May, 2012

Institutional Investors Increase Use of ETFs, says Greenwich Associates
In ETF News, Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
At first used by Institutional Investors for manager transitions, rebalancing and other tactics, fund managers strategic use of ETFs are on the rise, in particular to gain long-term exposure to desired asset classes, according to a freshly-published study by Greenwich Associates. In the hot-off-the press study, “57% of institutional ETF users employ these products to […] Read More

17 May, 2012

Actively managed ETFs get big-name backing
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Article courtesy of Rachel Koning Beals.. Actively managed exchange-traded funds may have gotten the headliner needed to push this sleepy category into the investing mainstream. Bill Gross and his bond-fund-giant Pimco in early May added a third actively managed ETF to their roster. This offering follows their actively managed Pimco Total Return ETF BOND +0.04% […] Read More

15 May, 2012

#Facebook Over-Booked? Or Over-Cooked?
In People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Breaking News: Bloomberg LP reports Facebook will be raising its IPO price range by 15% (from $28-$34 to $34-$38) and AAPL co-founder Steve Wozniak said he will buy shares in Facebook at the get go, regardless of price. In the same story, Bloomberg LP also reported  a “Bloomberg Global Poll” of more than 1,250 investors, […] Read More

14 May, 2012

State Street’s Junk ETF Sees Biggest Redemptions Since 07
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
An investor used State Street Corp. (STT)’s exchange-traded fund to anonymously obtain almost $780 million of speculative-grade bonds without moving prices in the secondary market. The investor on May 10 exchanged as much as 19.7 million shares in the SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) for the equivalent of about $779.3 million in […] Read More

14 May, 2012

Actively Managed ETFs Are Less Volatile, Lipper Finds
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Courtesy of  Barron’s Brendan Conway: By Brendan Conway Actively managed exchange-traded funds attempt to pick winners much like, say, Bill Miller does in mutual funds. The number of such funds has taken off, and while they’ve tended to underperform versus passive index-tracking ETFs, they’ve also been less volatile. Those are some of the findings of […] Read More

11 May, 2012

NYSE Backs Payments for ETF Market Makers; Incentives To…
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  Reporting courtesy of James Armstrong/Traders Mag. Following a similar proposal by Nasdaq OMX, NYSE Euronext has unveiled a plan to allow market makers to get paid for providing liquidity for exchange-traded funds. If approved, the plan could reduce the number of funds listed without lead market makers. On April 27, NYSE formally asked the […] Read More

4 May, 2012