ETF World.........Inside Exchange Traded Funds

2008-04-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

PKN - PowerShares Global Nuclear Energy Portfolio ETF

CHICAGO, IL -- (MARKET WIRE) -- -- PowerShares Capital Management LLC, a leading provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced today the anticipated listing of a global nuclear energy portfolio. The ETF is expected to begin trading on April 3, 2008 on the NYSE Arca, Inc.

"Since 2001, nuclear power plants have achieved lower production costs than coal, natural gas and oil,"(1) said Bruce Bond, president and CEO of PowerShares Capital Management LLC. "We believe higher oil prices, rising standards of living, and demand for cleaner sources of energy are favorable trends powering worldwide growth for the nuclear energy industry. The PowerShares Global Nuclear Energy Portfolio provides investors exposure to the performance of the global nuclear energy industry in the benefit-rich ETF format."

Prospectus

PKN closed it's second day of trading on Monday at $26.43, up 6 cents.

2008-04-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

iShares Silver Trust (NYSE SLV)

The objective of the investment is to reflect the price of silver owned by the trust less the trust's expenses and liabilities. The fund is intended to constitute a simple and cost-effective means of making an investment similar to an investment in silver. Although the fund is not the exact equivalent of an investment in silver, they provide investors with an alternative that allows a level of participation in the silver market through the securities market.

Note: SLV closed 65 cents below the 50 day moving average on Monday.

2007-09-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

ETFs which benefit from a decline in the U.S. Dollar, such as UDN, continue to appreciate as the USD declines.

The PowerShares DB US Dollar Bearish Fund (Symbol: UDN) is based on the Deutsche Bank Short US Dollar Index (USDX®) Futures Index™ (DB Short USD Futures Index). The Index, which is managed by DB Commodity Services LLC, is a rules-based index composed solely of short USDX® futures contracts. The USDX® futures contract is designed to replicate the performance of being short the US Dollar against the following currencies: Euro, Japanese Yen, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Swedish Krona and Swiss Franc.

2007-04-18T08:32:00.001-07:00

Victoria Bay Asset Management, LLC
and the American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) announced today the launch of
the United States Natural Gas Fund, LP (UNG), an exchange traded security
based on natural gas, which will list on the Amex under the ticker "UNG."
 
The investment objective of UNG is to have the changes in percentage
terms of the unit's net asset value reflect the changes in percentage terms
of the price of natural gas delivered at the Henry Hub, Louisiana, as
measured by the changes in the price of the futures contract on natural
gas. It is not the intent of UNG to be operated in a fashion such that its
NAV will equal, in dollar terms, the dollar price of spot natural gas or
any particular futures contract based on natural gas.
  
UNG intends to invest primarily in those futures contracts that are in
the two months closest to expiration because we feel those contracts will
permit the fund to best achieve its investment objective," said John
Hyland, CFA, Portfolio Manager and Director of Portfolio Research. The
partnership does not seek to use leverage in the portfolio to achieve its
investment goals.

2007-04-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

Barclays Global Investors on Wednesday launched on the American Stock Exchange the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (AMEX Stock Symbol HGY), billed as the first exchange-traded fund investing in high-yield bonds.

The fund uses for its benchmark the iBoxx $ Liquid High Yield Index, developed by the International Index Company.

The fund will hold 50 liquid securities representing a cross section of the high-yield market. The index will be re-balanced at the end of each month, and the number of holdings could deviate from 50 at times.

2007-03-17T18:08:00.001-07:00

The Barclays Global Investors iShares exchange-traded fund group plans to launch an ETF tracking mortgage-backed securities, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The iShares Lehman Mortgage Backed Securities Fund will begin trading on the American Stock Exchange on or around Friday with the ticker MBB.A.

According to Financial Research Corp., a Boston-based firm, BGI had net inflows of $44.5 billion last year, second in the U.S. fund business to American Funds, which took in a net $74.0 billion.

The iShares ETFs ended 2006 with nearly $300 billion of assets, making Barclays by far the largest ETF player.

Net inflows into the iShares ETF group so far this year are tracking closely with the last three years, when the annual pace was roughly $45 billion to $50 billion, iShares Chief Executive Lee Kranefuss said in an interview on Wednesday.

"The ETF market as a whole continues to grow at a very good clip," Kranefuss told Reuters.

A recent study by Morgan Stanley projected that global ETF assets will grow to $2 trillion by 2011.

2007-02-27T13:42:00.000-08:00

UltraShort QQQ ProShares (AMEX Stock Symbol QID) seek daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%)the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index. The Fund employs leveraged investment techniques to achieve its investment objective, which may expose the Fund to potentially dramatic changes (losses) in the value of its portfolio holdings and imperfect correlation to the index underlying the Fund's benchmark.

2007-02-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

First Trust Advisors L.P. on Wednesday launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on an index tracking clean-energy companies.

The First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index Fund ETF (NASDAQ QCLN) consists of 46 stocks of companies involved in various areas or clean energy, such as solar and bio-fuels.

The NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Fund is designed to correspond to the price and yield performance of the index upon which it is based. ETFs are financial products that trade like shares of stock and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day.

"As the world's economy shifts away from fossil fuel dependency towards efficient, renewable energy sources, investment opportunities are being created daily in this new industry," explains NASDAQ Executive Vice President John Jacobs. "This index, and the ETF based on it, will provide the tools needed to capture the investment opportunities created by this economic shift."

2007-01-24T09:28:00.000-08:00

Barclays Global Investors has filed registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a pair of new exchange-traded funds, iShares GS Commodity Energy Indexed Trust and iShares GS Commodity Natural Gas Indexed Trust. The ETFs would track indexes from Goldman Sachs and would invest in commodity futures contracts, the unit of British bank Barclays Plc said in the filing.

2007-01-23T05:35:00.000-08:00

XShares Advisors LLC launched five exchange-traded funds on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, with each one targeting a specific segment of the health care, life science and biotechnology industries.

Each ETF will track an index of 22 to 25 stocks.

XShares said the new ETFs take a "vertical" approach to sector investing, allowing investors to focus on diagnosing or treatment of specific diseases.

2007-01-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

Barclays Global Investors (BGI) announced today that eight iShares fixed income ETFs began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, extending the choices ETF investors have with fixed income asset classes. This expands the fixed income iShares family to a total of 14 funds that cover the treasury and credit markets. The new funds are the following:

                                                                  Annual
                                                  Trading        Expense
Fund Name                                          Symbol         Ratio
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
iShares Lehman Short Treasury Bond Fund              SHV           0.15%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
iShares Lehman 3-7 Year Treasury Bond Fund           IEI           0.15%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
iShares Lehman 10-20 Year Treasury Bond Fund         TLH           0.15%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
iShares Lehman 1-3 Year Credit Bond Fund             CSJ           0.20%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
iShares Lehman Intermediate Credit Bond Fund         CIU           0.20%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
iShares Lehman Credit Bond Fund                      CFT           0.20%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
iShares Lehman Intermediate
Government/Credit Bond Fund                         GVI           0.20%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
iShares Lehman Government/Credit Bond Fund           GBF           0.20%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Many investors have recognized that iShares fixed income funds help clear the opaqueness of fixed income investing that some investors experience," said Lee Kranefuss, CEO of BGI's Intermediary and Exchange Traded Funds Business. "Investors see for the first time intra-day pricing of groups of bonds that have similar maturities or quality. In addition, investors of fixed income iShares benefit from the institutional pricing that BGI, one of the largest asset managers in the world, can get when buying the funds' underlying bonds."

He added, "The iShares fixed income funds also provide investors with greater trading flexibility than traditional bond mutual funds to implement their market views. Investors can place limit and stop-loss orders on ETFs that allow investors to better time entry and exit into the market. In addition, iShares ETFs can be shorted on a downtick, making them a valuable risk management tool."

The iShares Funds are index funds that are bought and sold like common stocks on securities exchanges. The iShares Funds are attractive to many individual and institutional investors and financial intermediaries because of their relative low cost, tax efficiency and trading flexibility. Investors can purchase and sell shares through any brokerage firm, financial advisor, or online broker, and hold the funds in any type of brokerage account.

Barclays Global Investors (BGI) is one of the world's largest asset managers(1) providing structured investment strategies such as risk-controlled active strategies and indexing. In the US, BGI is one of the largest active managers(2), set apart by its risk-controlled approach. BGI manages 65% of the world's 100 largest pension plans(3) and is the leader in assets and products in exchange traded funds (ETFs) through its iShares® brand with more than 180 ETFs globally. The firm managed over $1.6 trillion in assets as of 9/30/06, for more than 2,800 clients in 52 countries around the world. BGI is a majority-owned subsidiary of Barclays Bank PLC.

There are risks involved with investing, including possible loss of principal. Bonds and bond funds will generally decrease in value as interest rates rise. With short sales, you risk paying more for a security than you received from its sale.

2006-12-24T03:11:00.000-08:00

ProShares Launches Four New UltraShort ETFs

ProShares, together with The American Stock Exchange® (Amex®), announced the addition of four exchange traded funds (ETFs) to the ProShares lineup. UltraShort ProShares are the first ETFs designed to provide magnified short exposure to well-known market indexes.

The new UltraShort ProShares seek daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse of those indexes, before fees and expenses. ProShares, which is part of ProFunds Group, introduced its family of innovative ETFs on June 21, 2006, with eight other ETFs offering short or magnified exposure to popular indexes.

"Over the past few years, we have seen increasing investor interest in more sophisticated strategies—especially strategies to use when markets are heading down. But for investors who use ETFs, it hasn’t necessarily been easy to execute those strategies. Shorting a traditional ETF can involve setting up a margin account, borrowing securities—and, potentially, losing more than the original investment," said Michael Sapir, CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC.

"Because UltraShort ProShares offer built-in magnified short exposure to an index, investors can ‘go short’ with a single ETF trade," he continued. "Whether the strategy is to capitalize on a trend or hedge against the risk of a decline, magnified exposure means the investor can commit half the dollars to potentially obtain the desired level of exposure. And, while both gains and losses are magnified, unlike other shorting strategies, the investor can’t lose more than the original investment."

"We are very excited to welcome ProShares back to the Amex for their new and innovative ETF listings," said Cliff Weber, Senior Vice President of the ETF Marketplace. "These ETFs accommodate a growing demand from investors that are seeking targeted ETFs to complement their investment portfolios."

With the launch of the UltraShort ProShares, the firm now offers 12 ETFs. Four Short ProShares are the first ETFs designed to provide short exposure to well-known market indexes, seeking daily investment results that correspond to the inverse of the indexes, before fees and expenses. Four Ultra ProShares are the first ETFs designed to magnify daily index performance, seeking daily investment results that correspond to twice the performance of their indexes, before fees and expenses.

Names of ProShares, their objectives and ticker symbols:

UltraShort ProShares
Fund Name	Daily Objective*	Ticker Symbol (NAV)
UltraShort QQQ^® ProShares	Double the inverse of the NASDAQ-100 Index^®	QID
UltraShort S&P500^®ProShares	Double the inverse of the S&P 500^® Index	SDS
UltraShort Dow30^SM ProShares	Double the inverse of the Dow Jones Industrial Average^SM	DXD
UltraShort MidCap400 ProShares	Double the inverse of the S&P MidCap 400	MZZ

Short ProShares
Fund Name	Daily Objective*	Ticker Symbol (NAV)
Short QQQ ProShares	Inverse of the NASDAQ-100 Index	PSQ
Short S&P500 ProShares	Inverse of the S&P 500Index	SH
Short Dow30 ProShares	Inverse of the Dow Jones Industrial Average	DOG
Short MidCap400 ProShares	Inverse of the S&P MidCap 400	MYY

Ultra ProShares
Fund Name	Daily Objective*	Ticker Symbol (NAV)
Ultra QQQ ProShares	Double the NASDAQ-100 Index	QLD
Ultra S&P500 ProShares	Double the S&P 500 Index	SSO
Ultra Dow30 ProShares	Double the Dow Jones Industrial Average	DDM
Ultra MidCap400 ProShares	Double the S&P MidCap 400	MVV

2006-11-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) announced today that it has launched trading in the iShares(R) KLD 400 Social Index Fund (Ticker: DSI) by Barclays Global Investors.

This new exchange traded fund (ETF) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Domini 400 Social(SM) Index, which is designed to provide exposure to the common stocks of companies with positive environmental, social and governance characteristics. The Index consists of 400 companies included in the S&P 500(R) Index and the Russell 3000(R) Index.

"The American Stock Exchange is pleased to be partnering with BGI to bring the iShares KLD 400 Social Index Fund to the marketplace," said Cliff Weber, Senior Vice President of the ETF Marketplace. "This is an innovative and exciting new ETF that will be a welcome addition to the Amex ETF family."The specialist for the iShares KLD 400 Social Index Fund is Kellogg Capital Group, LLC.

2006-11-16T11:29:00.000-08:00

This 5 day chart of NASDAQ composite shows a powerful uptrend. After breaking through resistance the index has moved up in consecutive trading sessions. At this point the bulls are fully in charge.

2006-11-14T11:56:00.000-08:00

This one year chart of the NASDAQ Composite Index shows the recent breakout through resistance at the 2360 level. This is a very bullish signal for the market as evidenced by the today's mid-day reversal and subsequent up turn to new highs.

2006-11-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Rydex Investments today announced the launch of a family of exchange traded funds (ETFs) based on the S&P Equal Weight Sector Indices®. The nine equal weight sector ETFs trade on the American Stock Exchange. The new ETFs seek to provide investors with full exposure to the following sectors: consumer discretionary (Amex: RCD); consumer staples (Amex: RHS); energy (Amex: RYE); financial services (Amex: RYF); healthcare (Amex: RGI); industrial (Amex: RGI); basic materials (Amex: RYT); technology (Amex: RTM); and utilities (Amex: RYU).

Unlike capitalization-weighted funds, which give more weight to the largest stocks within an index, Rydex S&P® Equal Weight Sector ETFs divide all stocks equally regardless of market capitalization in an attempt to give a more accurate representation of a given sector. Rydex uses equal weighting to help avoid single-stock risk, provide more exposure to smaller sector stocks and potentially improve the new ETFs' chances of outperforming their cap-weighted peers. For example, in the consumer staples sector, Proctor & Gamble Co. represents 17.31% of its relevant index versus just 2.59% in the equal-weight version, which mitigates the dominance of a few large stocks.

"Although the comparative returns and volatilities of the weighting methods might differ during market cycles, we've seen that, over time, equal weighting tends to outperform cap weighting," says Tim Meyer, ETF business line manager at Rydex Investments. "We believe investors who are looking for true exposure to a sector versus overexposure to a handful of stocks will appreciate the equal-weight methodology behind Rydex S&P Equal Weight Sector ETFs."

To maintain their equal weightings, the new Rydex ETFs rely on disciplined quarterly rebalancing, which may promote greater internal diversification and a relatively higher exposure to value stocks.

"The S&P Equal Weight Sector Indices combine an equal-weighted methodology, preferred by some investors, with the familiarity of the S&P 500 universe," says Robert Shakotko, managing director at Standard & Poor's Index Services. "They provide an alternative index measure of sector performance that will serve the increasing number of sector investors in the U.S. equity marketplace."

The introduction of Rydex S&P Equal Weight Sector ETFs marks the expansion of Rydex's ETF product lineup to two dozen, with the firm's ETF assets now approaching $3 billion. Rydex's flagship ETF, Rydex S&P Equal Weight ETF (AMEX RSP), pioneered the concept of equal weighting in 2003. As of September 30, 2006, RSP has attracted more than $1.6 billion in assets, and has delivered a return of 19.15% versus 13.81% for the S&P 500® since the fund's inception on April 24, 2003.

2006-11-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

The NASDAQ 100 (QQQQ) continues it's push towards new highs. The coming days will be critical if the Index is to break through resistance.

2006-10-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

This 3 year chart of the NASDAQ 100 TRUST SERIES I (NASDAQ:QQQQ) shows that the index is testing resistance at the $42.50 level. If the QQQQ can break through it may be poised to move much higher.

2006-10-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

The American Stock Exchange today announced that it has launched trading in three new exchange traded funds (ETFs) from PowerShares Capital Management LLC (PowerShares). The ETFs are based on equity indexes and are all sector portfolios.

"We are very excited to welcome PowerShares back to the Amex for three new ETF listings," said Cliff Weber, Senior Vice President of the Amex ETF Marketplace. "The Amex takes great pride in supporting PowerShares' 50 ETF listings on the Exchange as we continue to bring innovative products to the marketplace."

"We are very pleased to be working with the Amex to expand the PowerShares family of ETFs," said Bruce Bond, President of PowerShares. "Providing investors with direct, diversified and liquid access to the world of private equity is consistent with PowerShares' goals as an asset manager. The LSTPE Index is both unique and innovative, and it is a great fit for our growing portfolio of exchange-traded funds."

PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio (PZD)

PZD seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before fees and expenses) of the Cleantech(TM) Index (CTIUS). CTIUS is an equally weighted index currently comprised of 75 publicly traded companies engaged in the production of any knowledge-based product or service that improves operation, performance, productivity or efficiency, while reducing costs, inputs, energy consumption, waste or pollution. Cleantech companies produce knowledge-based products or services in a variety of areas, including agriculture and nutrition, air quality, enabling technologies, environmental technologies, material and nano-technology, materials recovery and recycling, transportation and logistics, and water purification and management. Stocks will be selected by Cleantech Capital Indices LLC.

PowerShares Listed Private Equity Portfolio (PSP)

PSP seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before fees and expenses) of the Red Rocks Listed Private Equity Index (LSTPE). LSTPE is comprised of stocks of securities and American depositary receipts of publicly listed private equity companies, including business development companies and other financial institutions or vehicles whose principal business is to invest in and lend capital to privately-held companies. Stocks in the LSTPE will be selected by Red Rocks Capital Partners LLC.

PowerShares WilderHill Progressive Energy Portfolio (PUW)

PUW seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before fees and expenses) of the WilderHill Progressive Energy Index (WHPRO). WHPRO is a modified equal-weighted index composed of companies engaged in businesses which are believed to stand to benefit from a societal shift toward the transitional energy technologies significant in improving the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power. Companies in WHPRO will be selected by Progressive Energy Index, LLC.

Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, LP is the specialist for PSP. LaBranche Structured Products, LLC is the specialist for PZD and PUW.

Options will also be traded on the three ETFs. The specialist for PZD and PUW options is LaBranche Structured Products, LLC. The specialist for PSP options is Susquehanna Investment Group.

2006-10-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Private Equity can now be somewhat traded as an ETF, an exchange traded fund. PowerShares, distributed by A I M, is launching an ETF based on private equity. The ticker on the American Stock Exchange will be listed as "PSP" and the formal names is The PowerShares Listed Private Equity Portfolio. It is based on the Red Rocks Listed Private Equity Index.

The ETF comprises of companies whose principal operations are investing in and lending to privately held companies. They have to have a minimum market capitalization rate of $50 million and a closing price above $1.00. It is diversified from 3 perspectives: stage, capital structure, and industry focus. They also consider valuation metrics, financial data, historical performance, and diversification.

The Listed Private Equity Index is noted to have a correlation coefficient of 0.703 to the S&P 500 Index over the last 10 years. The dividend yield on the index in the last 12 months was noted as roughly 5.15%, but that number also includes special dividends.

2006-10-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Investment manager Van Eck Global launched ETFs based on the steel and environmental services industries on the American Stock Exchange on Monday.

The Market Vectors - Environmental Services ETF seeks to track a new Amex Environmental Services Index that is made up of 24 companies involved in waste management, recycling, environmental management or consulting.

The Market Vectors - Steel ETF seeks to track a new Amex Steel index which consists of 39 companies involved in steel manufacturing, mill operation, or extraction and reduction of iron ore.

Both indices use a modified market capitalization weighting system, an announcement said.

The companies in the Steel ETF have a combined market capitalization of about $268 billion, while the companies in the Environmental ETF have a combined market capitalization of about $129 billion.

The price-to-earnings ratio on the Environmental index is about 32.4 and the PE ration on the Steel index it is about 11.0.

Two of the companies in the Environmental ETF are foreign firms, represented by American Depositary Receipts. For the steel ETF, 29 of the companies are based in North America and 10 are foreign firms represented by ADRs.

ETFs trade throughout the day on exchanges and are bought and sold through brokers.

New York-based Van Eck Global manages about $3.8 billion.

2006-10-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

Rapidly growing China seems to be on every investor's radar screen these days.

With that in mind, TheStreet.com Ratings has uncovered an exchange-traded fund for those seeking exposure to the world's most populous nation.

The iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund (FXI) , which has an eye-popping 40% one-year return, focuses on the largest companies in China (58% of holdings) and Hong Kong (42% of holdings). It is designed to generate a performance similar to that of the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index, which tracks the largest and most liquid companies in the Chinese (including Hong Kong) equity markets.

Indeed, the fund's focus on the large-cap and blue-chip stocks that have been powering the Chinese market is this ETF's main appeal. TheStreet.com Ratings rates FXI a buy and gives it an A rating.

The fund has another near-term attraction: Chinese bank stocks -- and the Chinese stock market as a whole -- are likely to get a boost from the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China's upcoming initial public offering, which is garnering a lot of attention.

The bank, the country's largest, is aiming to raise between $15.91 billion and $19.08 billion through the IPO, which is scheduled for Oct. 27 on both the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

The fund, which will surely hold ICBC shares once they hit the market, is an ideal way to take advantage of any uptrend resulting from this IPO, as well as the continuing economic expansion in China.

The portfolio, as the below table illustrates, is diversified across sectors, including the telecommunications, oil and gas, and insurance industries.

In addition, five of the fund's top 10 holdings are in the financial sector, which has a 19.82% weighting in the portfolio.

2006-10-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

Asia's first gold-based exchange traded fund (ETF) started trading on the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday.

The ETF, known as StreetTRACKS Gold Shares, are backed by physical gold and denominated in U.S. dollars.

The investment product is designed to track gold price and trade like any stock. Investors can buy a minimum of one lot of 10 shares, with each share priced about a-tenth of the spot price for an ounce of gold.

State Street, a financial services provider, is the marketing agent for streetSTRACKS in Singapore.

The ETF closed down 30 cents at 57.30 Singapore dollars (about 36.2 U.S. dollars), a 0.5 percent discount from its opening price of 57.60 (about 36.45 U.S. dollars). Over 9,000 shares changed hands on the first day.

2006-10-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

Mexico ETF Near High As Economy Improves

After a 29% plunge last spring, iShares MSCI Mexico Index Fund has rallied back to become one of the best performing ETFs of 2006, up 23% since Jan. 1.

The ETF suffered on the combined effects of a springtime correction in emerging markets and Mexico's election, says Nick Cherney, a portfolio manager with iShares in San Francisco.

Heading into the July 2 election, Mexican stocks started recovering. A narrow victory by conservative Felipe Calderon immediately met a challenge from the loser, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. That unsettled Mexican markets.

On Sept. 5, election officials confirmed Calderon's victory. Still, Obrador refused to concede, and vowed to set up a parallel government. The iShares Mexico ETF struggled some, although it found support at its 50-day moving average and has continued higher.

Election Over

Cherney says the election was a key event for Mexico's markets, but only part of a major growth trend. The ETF has a 10-year annualized return of 16%, leading all iShares ETFs for that time frame.

A stable currency, abundant trade with the U.S. and development of the country's infrastructure are the main undercurrents.

Mexican imports to the U.S. are growing at a faster rate than Chinese imports, Cherney says.

"Mexico is not a short-term trend," Cherney said. "There are a lot of important structural reasons Mexico has performed as well as it has, and we don't see those reasons going away anytime soon."

The ETF is modeled after the Morgan Stanley Capital International Mexico Index and is heavily weighted on telecom stocks.

Cellular Service

Almost 25% of iShares MSCI Mexico's portfolio consists of America Movil (NYSE:AMX - News), the wireless service provider. The stock is trading near all-time highs as it produces solid earning and sales gains.

The telecom business is promising in Mexico as it is in other developing nations, says Anthony Welch, a portfolio manager at Sarasota Capital, a Florida investment advisory firm that specializes in ETF investments.

The old landline phone system was lacking in many respects. When cellular service arrived, it made for better service in a more efficient delivery.

"You still have to build towers and infrastructure," Welch said. "But it's a lot cheaper than running wires all over the country."

Other big holdings are Cemex (NYSE:CX), the cement giant, beverage company Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX ) and media firm Grupo Televisa (NYSE:TV).

Ian Naismith, also of Sarasota Capital, says a plus for Mexican stocks is that the highest individual and corporate tax rates are being slashed to 28%.

2006-10-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

Betting on oil service ETFs has paid off well for investors. The energy sector has more than doubled in value over the last three years, and the recent slump in the price of crude has barely dented profits. For investors looking for a new energy play one of the most intriguing is an ETF that provides exposure to the world's second largest proven reserves: Canada's oil sands production.

Alberta Canada has about 175 billion barrels of proven reserves. This is more oil than Iran or Iraq, and second only to Saudi Arabia's 260 billion barrel reserve. But whereas Saudi Arabia pumps 12 million barrels of oil a day, Alberta currently produces barely 1 million. This lower production level reflects the relatively high cost of extracting oil from the sands.

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Crude oil is traditionally extracted from wells drilled into the ground. To extract oil from the Canadian sands the process is different: rich areas are mined to extract the oil-like bitumen, which is then refined. This process is so time-consuming and expensive that for years it was thought to be unfeasible. But technological advance combined with the rising price of crude has made oil sands production not just viable, but potentially immensely profitable.

A new ETF, the Claymore Oil Sands Sector ETF (TSX:CLO - News) will follow the Sustainable Oil Sands Sector Index, which is designed to track the future production of the oil sands. According to Claymore Investments Inc. president Som Seif, who is enthusiastic about the oil sand business, the index is tailor made for the oil sands business, designed to provide investors with "as much exposure to companies with greatest amount of oil sands business and output."

According to Seif, three key factors are involved in assembling companies to include in the index:

1. Current oil sands production in bpd

2. Projected oil sands production in the year 2015

3. Percentage of total production focused on oil sands production

In an early Claymore prospectus the top ten holdings of the proposed CLO are:

Holding Percentage
Suncor Energy Inc 11.4%
Imperial Oil LTD 9.2%
Canadian Oil Sands Trust 9.2%
Shell Canada Ltd. 7.5%
Opti Canada 7.0%
Western Oil Sands 6.6%
Synenco Energy 6.1%
UTS Energy 6.0%
Petrobank Energy and Resources 5.7%
Canadian Natural Resources 5.2%

(This allocation may have changed since recorded 7-31-06)

In comparison to a conventional oil services fund, the companies in CLO are smaller, with higher P/Es. The table below compares expected CLO holding characteristics with the conventional oil services benchmark Energy Select Sector SPDR (AMEX:XLE - News).

Price/Earnings Price/Book Average Market Cap Yield
CLO 15.33 4.17 20.2 billion 0.89
XLE 10.38 2.43 87.3 billion 1.15%

Some investors worry about the environmental degradation and relatively high cost that comes with mining oil sands. But with world-wide demand for oil growing and continued expansion of economies in India and China the price of oil will likely support the higher cost of this new production. In addition, the security of the location of the oil sands resource: far away from the hurricanes and geopolitical uncertainty that mark many other areas of conventional oil production will make the development of these oil sands facilities especially attractive.

According to Som Seif, CLO is scheduled for launch in "a couple of weeks" and should begin trading mid-October. The oil sand mining of Alberta is an emerging topic. CLO is a novel ETF that deserves a serious look from energy investors.

2006-10-09T01:04:00.000-07:00

The first commodity-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Asia will be listed in Singapore this week, which may make it easier for investors to diversify their holdings in the future.

On Wednesday, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) and the World Gold Council plan to list streetTracks Gold Shares (Gold Shares), the US$7.3-billion gold ETF that has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since November 2004, on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX).

Initially, Gold Shares will raise about US$30 million, mostly from institutional investors, the bullion community and private banks across Asia, including some in Thailand. It will track the price of gold bullion in London after expenses. Each share, which represents an interest in a trust, is worth approximately 0.1 ounce of gold bullion.

James Ross, senior managing director of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), said the ETF market had gradually developed in recent years, and the outlook for the future was bright. The secondary listing of streetTracks Gold Shares on the SGX would provide Asian investors with a different way to participate in the gold market and allow them to access this important asset class, he added.

James Burton, chief executive officer of the World Gold Council, said ETFs were popular investment alternatives in the United States.

"Asia has just started to enjoy wealth," he said. "You're young and you should think of investing in ETFs, which are products that are designed for 25 years or more for saving or investment purposes."

While the value of gold may fluctuate in the short term, it had consistently returned to its historic purchasing power parity over the long term, said Mr Ross. Investing in gold could be an effective tool for asset diversification and wealth preservation, he added.

SSgA and the Council created a partnership two years ago to develop a gold ETF that allows investors a simple, cost-effective and secure means to invest in gold. The gold ETF can be purchased on the SGX as simply as ordinary stocks. Citigroup will be the market maker to enhance liquidity, while HSBC Bank USA is the custodian.

Investing in gold ETFs, said Mr Ross, would only have a 0.4% fee as an annual expense, which was lower than buying gold bars since customers had to pay more to store them in the bank.
Mr Burton said he was convinced that the trend of gold prices was positive in the long term, given constraints in supply and rising demand, while prices in the short- to mid-term would be volatile on the back of globally sensitive issues.

Demand for gold has outpaced global mine production by about 1,200 to 1,400 tonnes per year in the past five years, while gold production levels are unlikely to increase significantly.
Furthermore, central bank sales of gold will continue to be well co-ordinated, based on the Central Bank Gold Agreement of 1999, which aimed to increase transparency and limit shocks to the system.

"After the listing of Gold Shares in Singapore, we are looking forward to launching gold ETFs in other countries in Asia, such as India where demand is quite strong," he said. "It's too early to mention more country names, but we will explore opportunities, look at regulatory schemes and work with local regulators."

Asked whether SSgA might introduce ETF products in Thailand, Mr Ross said he was sure that his staff had talked with the SET about the possibility.
The SET plans to launch an equity ETF next year, and is now in the process of designing the product, establishing a reference index and selecting market makers.

2006-10-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

Barclays Global Investors on Monday said it had filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register 15.2 million new shares of the iShares Silver Trust , which has proven popular with investors as a silver play this year.

"It provides us with flexibility," said Barclays spokeswoman Christine Hudacko.

The registration would almost double the amount that could potentially be invested in the trust to 32 million shares.

iShares Silver Trust is traded on the American Stock Exchange. Barclays launched the exchange traded fund in April with a cap of about 16.8 million iShares available for investors.

"We are registering additional shares. That does not mean the trust is automatically going to buy additional metal," Hudacko said, adding that the SEC requires that a ceiling be established for the size of the fund.

The ETF is backed by silver bullion stored in vaults in allocated accounts. Each share is worth 10 ounces of silver, meaning that, fully subscribed, it could now hold 320 million ounces, an increase of 152 million.

Investors must buy the shares before the trust administrators will buy the bullion to back it.

2006-09-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

The combined assets of exchange-traded funds listed on U.S. exchanges rose $11.13 billion, or 3.3%, to $348.05 billion in August, the Investment Company Institute reported Wednesday. Assets in domestic-stock ETFs rose to $241.21 billion in August from $233.93 billion the previous month, while funds investing in international companies rose to $87.93 billion from $84.82 billion. During August, the value of all ETF shares issued exceeded that of shares redeemed by $3.71 billion, according to ICI, the main trade group for the mutual fund business.

2006-09-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

TF Securities, a developer of exchange-traded products, will launch 29 new funds on Wednesday that it hopes will attract investors looking to access commodity markets, the company said on Tuesday.

ETF Securities will launch 19 individual securities and 10 index securities that will allow investors to trade in individual commodities or a focused index.

The products will be traded on the London Stock Exchange.

At the same time, the LSE said it will launch a new market segment for ETCs.

The market segment, the first of its kind in the world, will contain 32 exchange traded commodities and commodity indices, including the 29 to be issued by ETF Securities.

"Nobody has ever launched 29 products in one go. We are giving investors full access to an asset class to which they have been unable to gain exposure to date," Hector McNeil, head of sales and marketing at ETF Securities, said.

"We have had huge interest from institutional investors, hedge funds and a lot of private wealth," he added.

Exchange-traded funds allow investors to gain exposure to commodity markets, which have stormed to record highs in many cases over the past three years, without having to worry about setting up futures trading accounts or taking physical delivery of products.

ETF Securities' 19 exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) range from copper and aluminium to crude oil and gasoline and also include agricultural commodities, including live cattle, sugar and wheat.

The index products include a cross-commodity product, base and precious metals baskets and energy.

McNeil said the products tracked the Dow Jones AIG indices, which in turn were based on London Metal Exchange prices for base metals other than copper and U.S. futures markets for everything else.

ETF Securities launched a physically-backed gold fund about 2-1/2 years ago that has attracted $1.6 billion (840 million pounds) in investment.

An oil index launched a year ago has about $150 million invested in it and more products may be in the pipeline.

2006-09-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (ITB)

Last Trade:	37.12
Trade Time:	3:56PM ET
Change:	0.63 (1.73%

The investment seeks results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Home Construction index. The index measures the performance of the home construction sector of the U.S. equity market. The index includes companies that are constructors of residential homes, including manufacturers of mobile and prefabricated homes. The companies selected for inclusion in the index must meet minimum market capitalization and liquidity requirements. The fund uses a representative sampling strategy to try to track the index. It is nondiversified.

streetTRACKS Gold Shares (GLD)

Last Trade:	58.50
Trade Time:	4:15PM ET
Change:	0.55 (0.95%)

streetTRACKS Gold Trust is an investment trust whose shares strive to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trustâ€™s expenses. The Trust holds gold, and is expected to issue baskets in exchange for deposits of gold, and to distribute gold in connection with redemptions of baskets. The gold held by the trust will only be sold on an as-needed basis to pay trust expenses, in the event the Trust terminates and liquidates its assets, or as otherwise required by law or regulation. The Trust is not managed like an active investment vehicle, and it's not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Telecom HOLDRs (TTH)

Last Trade:	33.27
Trade Time:	3:59PM ET
Change:	0.36 (1.09%)

The investment seeks growth. Telecom HOLDRS are Depositary Receipts issued by the Telecom HOLDRS Trust which represent an undivided beneficial ownership in the common stock of a group of companies that are involved in various segments of the Telecommunications Industry.

2006-09-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

Investment companies are throwing a barrage of exchange-traded fund products on the U.S. market, taking what were originally index products based on fairly broad sections of the stock market and slicing them into smaller pieces.

At the end of 2005 there were 201 ETFs with $296 billion in assets, representing a 31 percent increase in assets for the year, according to the Investment Company Institute, a trade group for the U.S. fund industry. By the end of July, the number of ETFs rose to 268 and assets were $337 billion.

Trading in 10 PowerShares FTSE RAFI fundamental indexes started on the Nasdaq on Wednesday. Nine of the ETFs track industry sectors such as consumer goods and one is based on an index of small and mid-cap stocks.

All use what PowerShares Capital Management President and Chief Executive Bruce Bond calls a "fundamentally weighted approach" to indexing, unlike more traditional indexes. A company's weighting in the index depends on sales, cash flow, book value and the dividend if they have one, Bond said.

On Thursday, Claymore Securities Inc. is launching five ETFs on the Amex. One is the Claymore/Sabrient Insider ETF, which Claymore says selects stocks based on public reports of insider buying. The ETF also buys stocks which have received upgrades from Wall Street analysts.

Unlike the more familiar open-end mutual funds, which generally are priced once a day at the end or the day, ETFs trade continuously on exchanges.

The first U.S. ETF was the S&P 500 SPDR , which debuted on the American Stock Exchange in 1993. More recently, other exchanges have been getting into the act as the popularity of ETFs has grown.

The Nasdaq stock market now lists 18 ETFs and the New York Stock Exchange listed 37 ETFs via initial public offerings so far this year.

"They are better tax vehicles than mutual funds," said William Breen, manager of the Symphony Wealth Management Ovation Fund , which was started to invest in ETFs.

An investor who buys an open-end mutual fund late in the year may be buying into some built-in capital gains that will be taxable. With the ETF, there is no capital gains tax until it is sold, assuming it is sold at a profit.

Although Breen, an emeritus professor of finance at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, is clearly a proponent of ETFs, he nevertheless raises some cautionary notes about the proliferation of product.

He notes that some of the ETFs use indexes that were invented just for the ETF and thus have no history. Others, which rebalance periodically such as the end of each quarter, require a bit of effort for an investor to stay on top of what exactly the ETF owns, Breen said.

He also notes that there are a few with a heavy concentration in one or a few stocks.

"The ETF world has been primarily focused on splitting up the universe into ever smaller pieces," said David Cohen, managing director at Claymore. He said the five new Claymore products offer five distinct strategies for investors.

Another of the five, the Claymore/BNY BRIC ETF, is billed as the first U.S. ETF to focus on the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Although the majority of ETFs are based on stock indexes, there are also ETFs for fixed income and for commodities.

Claymore Securities is a private firm based in Lisle, Illinois. PowerShares became part of Anglo-U.S. fund firm Amvescap through a merger that was completed on Monday.

2006-09-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

The American Stock Exchange will launch trading in options on Thursday, September 21, 2006 on the following exchange traded funds by Claymore Securities, Inc. (Claymore):

* Claymore/BNY BRIC ETF (Amex EEB)

* Claymore/Sabrient Insider ETF (Amex NFO)

* Claymore/Sabrient Stealth ETF (Amex STH)

* Claymore/Zacks Sector Rotation ETF (Amex: (XRO)

* Claymore/Zacks Yield Hog ETF (Amex CVY)

Claymore/BNY BRIC ETF options will open with strike prices of a range (20 - 30 1 pt increments) and position limits of 2,500,000 shares. The options will trade on the March expiration cycle. The Specialist will be Susquehanna Investment Group. Claymore/BNY BRIC fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the BNY BRIC Index.

Claymore/Sabrient Insider ETF options will open with strike prices of a range of (20 - 30 1 pt increments) and position limits of 2,500,000 shares. The options will trade on the March expiration cycle. The Specialist will be Jane Street Specialist, LLC. Claymore/Sabrient Insider fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Sabrient Insider Sentiment Index.

Claymore/Sabrient Stealth ETF options will open with strike prices of a range (20 - 30 1 pt increments) and position limits of 2,500,000 shares. The options will trade on the March expiration cycle. The Specialist will be Jane Street Specialists, LLC. Claymore/Sabrient Stealth fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Sabrient Stealth Index.

Claymore/Zacks Sector Rotation ETF options will open with strike prices of a range (20 - 30 1 pt increments) and position limits of 2,500,000 shares. The options will trade on the March expiration cycle. The Specialist will be AGS Specialists, LLC. Claymore/Zacks Sector Rotation fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Zacks Sector Rotation Index.

Claymore/Zacks Yield Hog ETF options will open with strike prices of a range (20 - 30 1 pt increments) and position limits of 2,500,000 shares. The options will trade on the March expiration cycle. The Specialist will be AGS Specialists, LLC. Claymore/Zacks Yield Hog fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Zacks Yield Hog Index.

The American Stock Exchange® (Amex®) is the only primary exchange that offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDRS(SM). In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the pioneer of the ETF, responsible for bringing the first domestic product to market in 1993. Leading the industry in ETF listings, the Amex lists 191 ETFs. The Amex is also one of the largest options exchanges in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks.

2006-09-21T03:38:00.000-07:00

US SEC staff eyes streamlining reviews of new ETFs

U.S. market regulators are moving toward faster, streamlined reviews of proposals for new exchange-traded funds, a top official said on Wednesday.

"We are currently in the midst of a concerted effort to evaluate and improve our process for reviewing ETF proposals," said Andrew Donohue, director of the Division of Investment Management at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Exchange-traded funds are a hot investment vehicle that debuted in the early 1990s. Today, there are more than 260 of them. ETF assets under management total about $337 billion.

ETFs are capital pools similar to mutual funds. But unlike the familiar open-ended mutual fund, which typically prices its shares just once daily, shares in an exchange-traded fund trade and reprice continuously all day on an exchange.

The first ETF was the S&P 500 SPDR , which debuted on the American Stock Exchange in 1993.

The SEC has been criticized in some quarters for being too slow in approving the launch of new ETFs, Donohue said in a speech at a conference of ETF and indexed investing managers.

"Our review process should become more streamlined, particularly in terms of our analysis of the underlying markets upon which the ETFs are based," Donohue said.

An investment adviser wishing to introduce a new ETF must now apply to the SEC seeking certain legal exemptions. The SEC can grant the exemptions only after a thorough review of issues such as public interest and investor protection.

"The application process historically has been a time-consuming one," Donohue said.

As interest in ETFs has grown, proposals to launch new ones have poured into the SEC, creating a backlog.

As a result, Donohue said a streamlined review is being eyed for proposals that are similar to existing index-based ETFs. Streamlining could include reducing staff scrutiny of the underlying securities markets, he said.

The SEC staff is also considering permitting ETF sponsors to introduce similar ETFs without going through the exemptive applications process a second time, he said.

In addition, the staff is looking at developing a rule proposal for ETFs that would let them come to market without having to first obtain an exemptive order.

"The number of new, routine, index-based ETF applications submitted this year has convinced us that there is value in focusing our limited resources on developing a proposal for an ETF exemptive rule," he said.

Donohue was named director of the SEC's investment management division in April. He was formerly general counsel at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, a unit of Merrill Lynch . He was also a member of the board of governors of the Investment Company Institute, a mutual fund industry group.

2006-09-20T22:18:00.000-07:00