Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)

[winston]

BUYER BEWARE!

Today's note is a reminder that not all ETFs do what they say...

Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, were created in the early 1990s to provide investors with "instant diversification." Most ETFs track indexes (like the S&P 500) or commodities (like gold)... And because many are not actively managed, they do this with low fees. A good ETF can be a big help to individual investors.

But not all ETFs work as advertised. Take the popular U.S. Natural Gas Fund (UNG), for instance. It's supposed to track the price performance of natural gas, but its flawed structure makes it "bleed" value from shareholder accounts. It's one of our candidates for "the world's worst ETF."

You can see this dynamic at work below. Our chart plots the performance of natural gas (black line) and UNG (blue line) over the past five years. Natural gas is up nearly 20%. But UNG is down more than 75%. Just because an ETF says it tracks an index or commodity, doesn't mean it will.

Source: www.dailywealth.com

[winston]

4 Blunders to Avoid in ETF Investing

Don't fall into these pitfalls

By David Fabian

http://investorplace.com/2015/04/etfs-m ... TgridKqqko

[winston]

6 Reasons Why Every Investor Should Consider ETFs

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/in ... z3jS1bPjlG

[winston]

Why Some ETFs Led the Markets Down Last Week

By SHAH GILANI

Source: Money Morning

http://moneymorning.com/2015/08/31/why- ... last-week/

[winston]

Four Black Monday Takeaways Wall Street Hopes ETF Investors Never Understand

By KEITH FITZ-GERALD

Source: Money Map Report

http://moneymorning.com/2015/09/11/four ... nderstand/

[winston]

The First Step Down the Road to Wealth

By Shah Gilani

http://wallstreetinsightsandindictments ... 5#deeplink

[winston]

The $3 Trillion ETF ‘Boom’

With more invested assets than hedge funds, the ETF industry is seemingly thriving—but not everyone’s buying in.

http://www.ai-cio.com/channel/ASSET-ALL ... TF--Boom-/

[winston]

THE BIG PICTURE

‘Time to re-examine the entire exchange traded fund ecosystem’

by Chris Flood

Source: FT

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3f52c792 ... z3pZdQlmvQ

[winston]

7 Best iShares ETFs for Building Your Portfolio

We highlight 7 of the best iShares ETFs together in one portfolio

By Kent Thune

Source: Investor Place

http://investorplace.com/2015/10/ishare ... jK9BLcrKM8

[winston]

Hedge fund woes

2015 has not been a good year for the hedge fund industry.

Total closures in the first nine months of the year were at 674, with 257 of those coming the third quarter.

Hedge-fund assets contracted by $95 billion to $2.87 trillion during the quarter, HFR data showed, the most since the fourth quarter of 2008.

Funds involved in industrial metals have been particularly hard hit by the commodity rout, with one of the survivors saying the worse may be to come.

Source: Bloomberg