Category Archives: investor insights

Digging Beneath The Surface Of Two Concentrated Value ETFs

We have seen a big shift in investor appetite away from traditional value companies and into high flying growth names over the last several years. That trend has continued in 2015, yet the recent volatility may have investors reconsidering the fundamental qualities of the stocks in their portfolio. Growth stocks tend to fall harder during corrective phases […]

What Do To When ETF Pricing Looks Suspicious

Monday’s 1,000+ opening drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average caused quite a stir in investor circles. Most notable was the tremendous sell-side volume that created inefficiencies in company share prices, which also translated to the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that own these stocks. The pile on effect of market makers taking advantage of a one-sided […]

ETF Trading: Heartbreaks And Home Runs

Nearly every week on the blog I tout the benefits of ETFs in our investment portfolios.  In my opinion, their low-cost, liquidity, transparency, tax efficiency, and global reach make them one of the best tools for growing your wealth.  Nevertheless, they can also provide bouts of heart stopping volatility during fast moving markets. Monday’s drubbing showed […]

Knowing When To Hold’em and When To Fold ‘em

Volatile markets like these always remind me how much personal wealth can be gained or lost from hysterical or knee-jerk decision making.  When 2-4% gaps become common place; the feeling of “investing” quickly goes out the window.  That empty space begins to fill with speculative or “gambling” urges that can work either for or against […]

The State Of The Market In 5 Charts – August 2015

Back in March I did a comprehensive overview of the financial markets that looked at the technical setups across multiple asset classes. Fast forward five months and many trends have continued to play out with dogged determination. Nevertheless, reviewing fresh data can help us pinpoint key areas that represent opportunities or those that should be avoided. Stocks […]

Steep Declines Have Created Deep Discounts In These 3 ETFs

The impact from price deflation in commodity-linked industries has continued its path of destruction in 2015. Despite flat performance in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), many niche ETFs driven by energy, precious metals, and other natural resources have fallen by the wayside. For instance, plunging gold prices have dragged down the Market Vectors Gold […]