Stocks & Mutual Funds Information

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Exchange Traded Funds Primer


Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are a group of passive index funds that trade on an exchange like an individual stock. At the time of writing there are 162 ETFs with $220 billion in assets under management trading on U.S. exchanges.

ETFs hold a basket of securities that mimic the results of various indices including broad stock and bond market, industry sectors, and international securities. New niche funds are being created regularly. Recent introductions include gold and China funds, and there are rumors that a silver ETF will soon be available.

The most popular ETF is the NASDAQ 100 Tracking Stock (QQQQ) trading 50 million shares a day on the NASDAQ Stock Market. The volume leaders on the American Stock Exchange are the SPDRS (SPY) tracking the S&P 500 trading 25 million shares per day, the Energy SPDR (XLE), Japan iShares (EWJ), Russell 2000 iShares (IWM), and the Financial SPDR (XLF).

ETFs are widely used by institutional and individual investors as a tool for diversification, risk reduction, hedging, and an efficient way to acquire a basket of securities providing partial ownership in all holdings with only a single commission and small administration fees. ETFs are also transparent, meaning that investors know at all times what securities they are invested in.

There are now also options and futures contracts trading on of ETFs. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) lists 43 options on ETFs, while the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) offers futures contracts on the S&P 500 Depository Receipts, NASDAQ 100 Tracking Stock, and Russell 2000 Index Fund. And One Chicago, a joint venture between the CBOE, CME, and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), offers an electronically traded futures contract on the DIAMONDS Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF.

There are also a number of web sites offering information on Exchange Traded Funds. Check out Amex.com, Yahoo! Finance's ETF Center, ETFConnect, or ETFera.com. Meanwhile, investment research firm Morningstar compares the fair value estimates to market prices of exchange traded funds holdings to determine whether a fund is over or undervalued.

Exchange Traded Fund's low costs, liquidity, and diversification make them an excellent alternative to mutual funds, broad based index investments, and individual stocks in niche sectors.

Mark Mahorney is the owner of Cofishop Media Group located in Keystone, CO. Cofishop is a diverse marketing services organization and online content syndicator of a suite of financial sites. Mark has been a contributing author to The Motley Fool and published in numerous leading financial publications.

Mark inks The Market Speculator newsletter, a hedged approach to market profits for individual investors. You can also read his scrawls, scribbles, rambles, and rants on the markets and whatever other ilk gets his ire at BlogginWallStreet.com and Marketblog.com.

MarketSpectator.com: Profit in the calm, protect in the storm
BlogginWallStreet.com: What really moves the markets
MarketBlog.com: Market missives and more

 

MORE RESOURCES:

Law School to Provide Tax Help
Inside INdiana Business (press release), IN - Jan 5, 2009
Taxpayers with annual income of $42000 or less are eligible for the help if they have not received income from the sale of stocks, mutual funds or homes or ...


Valparaiso University law school to provide tax help
nwitimes.com, IN - Jan 5, 2009
Taxpayers with annual income of $42000 or less are eligible for the help if they have not received income from the sale of stocks, mutual funds or homes or ...


$72 billion was pulled from market in October
The Tennessean, TN - Dec 24, 2008
By ES Browning • THE WALL STREET JOURNAL • December 24, 2008 One of the hallmarks of the long market downturns in the 1930s and the 1970s has returned: ...


New Money features for you
USA Today - Dec 15, 2008
They include: •Year-to-date returns for stocks, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These can be found by entering the name or ticker symbol in ...


Like other stocks, mutual funds show heavy losses during 2008
LubbockOnline.com, TX - Dec 27, 2008
By Tim Paradis | AP NEW YORK - There was one safe bet that mutual fund investors could make in 2008 - that the stock market was a place to lose a lot of ...


High school investments team wins game
Greenwich Post, CT - Jan 4, 2009
The Greenwich High School investment course is more akin to a college-level course covering stocks, mutual funds, bonds and other securities. ...


Be wary of US treasury bonds in 2009
Stockhouse, Canada - Jan 5, 2009
They pulled money out of stocks, mutual funds, money market accounts, even bank savings accounts and CD’s, and poured it into US T-bills and bonds at a ...


Value? Growth? Both!
Motley Fool - Jan 2, 2009
The distinction between value and growth stocks is such a bedrock assumption that Morningstar routinely classifies stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs as one or ...


City pension funds may cost taxpayers
Allentown Morning Call, PA - Jan 4, 2009
... the crumbling economy has pummeled Allentown's pension funds, which rely on stocks, mutual funds, real estate and other investment tools for growth. ...


A better bailout alternative
American Thinker, WA - Dec 18, 2008
Any type of funds may be used: CDs, bonds, stocks, mutual funds, cash, money market funds. - IRA owners can contribute any percentage of their qualified ...

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