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REIT Yield as a Predictor of Future Returns

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:25:03 -0400

by Geoff Considine The yield of an asset is a key component of predicting future returns. This is true for the yield on Treasury bonds as well as the dividend yield for stock indexes. The yield on aggregate bond indexes is considered a good proxy for future expected returns. The dividend yield of broad stock indexes has been [...]

REITs Are Not Cheap But Not Really That Bad Either

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:19:17 -0400

REITs have been the best performing major asset class since the market bottom in 2009, up over 200%. What are the current drivers of REITs saying now across trend, yield curve, and valuation?

May 20, 2013: New Features: FolioInvesting One-Click, Portfolio Dividend & Static Portfolio Change

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:18:36 -0400

We introduce several new features including email attachment for FolioInvesting portfolio allocations, portfolio dividend data and dynamically changing a static portfolio while maintaining historical performance data.

Tom Dorsey: ‘ETF Alchemy’ Is The Future

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:35:44 -0400

Where is the ETF industry headed? Tom Dorsey answers in this Q&A with IndexUniverse. IU.com:In the first four months of 2013, asset gathering for U.S. ETFs was in the neighborhood of $64 billion, and on pace to beat 2012’s record of $188 billion.

Small-Cap REIT ETFs for Yield

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:49:00 -0400

Small cap REIT exchange traded funds have been overlooked by some investors, but their high yields are worth a second look. As many of the large-cap REITs (real estate investment trusts) have reached maturity, small-cap focused REIT ETFs allow investors to take advantage of the current real estate...

Going to alternatives for yield

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:29:03 -0400

By John Wasik May 10 (Reuters) – If you’re willing to take on more risk, it’s a good time to move beyond corporate and government bonds in the incredibly challenging search for yield. While attention has been on the record-setting stock market – the DowJones Industrial Average closed above the symbolic 15,000 on Tuesday and kept climbing – [...]

May 13, 2013: Preparing To Take A Loss

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:35:16 -0400

Preparing for a loss in the coming correction: we would rather do it proactively and getting psychologically prepared before it happens.

2 Forgotten REIT ETFs to Buy Now – ETF News And Commentary

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:30:01 -0400

Why investors should look to these REIT ETFs for solid yields and price appreciation potential.

Preparing to Retire – Wealth Management Carnival #12

Fri, 10 May 2013 10:12:45 -0400

BY AUSTIN FEY Today’s carnival is all about retirement: saving for it, where to open accounts, how much to withdraw once you do retire, and more. Read on for more details! A Fresh Perspective on Employer Retirement MatchesEmily presents Should You Count Your Employer’s Contribution into Your Retirement Savings Percentage? posted atEvolving Personal Finance.“If you get an employer [...]

What Happens in A Nation of Renters?

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:24:56 -0400

by Geoff Considine Time magazine has a new article on changes in the home ownership in America. The article, titled A Nation of Renters: Should We Be Worried That Fewer Americans Own Homes?, explores the substantial decline in the fraction of Americans who own their own homes. I have followed this issue for quite some time and the [...]

May 6, 2013: High Dividend ETF Portfolio Construction

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:01:43 -0400

One can use a tactical strategy to construct a high dividend ETF portfolio by carefully including a well selected candidate ETFs with high yields. A 6% to 7% yield portfolio is possible.

Highest Yield Stock ETFs

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:08:01 -0400

In the process of finding stock ETFs that have highest yields and enough trading volume, we came up with the following ETFs: The mortgage REIT companies have utilized high leverage (usually 6 or 7 to 1) to amplify commercial or residential MBS. Furthermore business development companies (BDCs) have done well so far. We are [...]

The Defensive Sector Led Stock Market Rally Continued

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:39:38 -0400

It’s been a while that this stock market rally has been led by often considered ‘defensive’ sectors such as consumer staples, health care and utilities, all of which occupied the top 3 trend score ranking table: Assets Class Symbols 05/01Trend Score 04/24Trend Score Direction Consumer Staples XLP 10.98% 11.42% v Healthcare XLV 10.85% 12.82% v [...]

April 29, 2013: Goal Based Financial Planning And Investing

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:30:43 -0400

Goal based financial planning helps you to classify your needs into several categories. You then setup your investment portfolios based on these goals.

Top REIT ETFs for Commercial Real Estate, Yield

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:58:30 -0400

Exchange traded funds tracking commercial real estate have outpaced the S&P 500 the past few years and more investors are gravitating to REIT ETFs for yield since interest rates are so low. Vanguard REIT ETF (NYSEArca: VNQ) has a three year annualized return of 16.1%, outperforming the 11.4%...

3 Excellent REIT ETFs You Should Not Ignore – ETF News And Commentary

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:43:01 -0400

REIT ETFs offer solid income with capital appreciation potential and diversification.

April 22, 2013: Portfolio Rebalance – Ease of Use

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:33:22 -0400

We review portfolio rebalances for both ETF, mutual fund brokerage accounts as well as 401k accounts. We further show FolioFn's one-click basket rebalance feature.

High costs dim appeal of multi-asset funds

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:29:59 -0400

By John Wasik (Reuters) – On paper, multi-asset funds look great. These tactical “fund of funds” let an investor cover objectives ranging from inflation protection and income to international growth, while enabling managers to diversify quickly and avoid market sell-offs. On the market for years, multi-asset funds have gained traction since the 2008 financial crisis. They [...]

Quant Approach to TAA Paper Updated

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:13:22 -0400

I updated our 2006 paper “A Quantitative Approach to Tactical Asset Allocation”. I am going to send it to The Idea Farm list this Friday so make sure to signup! This 70 page new update includes: 1. Results are extended out-of-sample to include the years 2009-2012. 2. Additional asset classes are included (from 5 Mor...

April 15, 2013: What Happened To Gold And Commodities?

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:36:13 -0400

Gold and commodities are down. But for a long term investor, this is just a natural part of the whole process. At some point, they will have positive effect on portfolios.

3 High Yield ETFs for Your IRA – Investment Ideas

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:25:01 -0400

3 High Yield ETFs for Your IRA - Investment Ideas

Three Actively Managed ETFs to Consider Right Now

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:05:31 -0400

Actively managed ETFs remain just a sliver of the overall ETF universe.

There are 1,445 ETFs and ETNs trading in the U.S., but a mere 58 are actively managed, a figure that equals just four percent of the U.S. exchange traded products universe, according to ETF Trends.

And when it comes

Morningstar on Momentum: “A Powerful Way To Enhance Returns”

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:51:22 -0400

Morningstar does a pretty deep dive into momentum in their article Does Momentum Investing Work? I highly recommend reading the whole article as it covers some excellent long-term studies of momentum.

BRIC Stocks Are All Down

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:51:42 -0400

S&P 500 is making new high daily. However, looking at the world, one can see that all BRIC country stocks (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are down: Assets Class Symbols 04/10Trend Score 04/03Trend Score Direction Japan EWJ 14.61% 5.33% ^ Mexico EWW 11.52% 7.11% ^ Switzerland EWL 11.21% 10.98% ^ Australia EWA 11.03% 8.12% ^ [...]

Take the lazy portfolio route to big returns

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:08:27 -0400

By John Wasik CHICAGO | Mon Apr 8, 2013 5:04pm EDT (Reuters) – I have always found that laziness is a virtue when it comes to managing my own money. The less I trade, the better my performance. Years ago, in an attempt to come up with a hypothetical portfolio that provided low-cost diversification, I created what [...]

A five-point strategy for riding the bull

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:02:22 -0400

By John Wasik (Reuters) – With the U.S. stock market rallying this year, it may be enticing to take extra cash on hand and ride the bull. If anything, it is all too easy to pour contributions into actively managed U.S. large-stock funds. Some 90 percent of all retirement plans surveyed last year by the [...]

April 8, 2013: First Quarter Review: Trends Are In Place But Can They Sustain?

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:50:41 -0400

We review our asset allocation strategies for some typical portfolios. Overall, we are pleased with the performance of the three strategies (SAA equal weight, SAA Optimal and TAA). They have done exactly as what they were supposed to do.

ETF Bracket Madness: The Championship

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:00:26 -0400

The Penultimate Pair took to the court last round, but there can only be one winner. The championship round commenced this week and a victor was crowned. The hard fought battle began with the 16 largest U.S.-listed ETFs, and each round was based on a number of factors that you can review here. Below, we outline your championship matchup and the long journey to victory [for more ETF news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter]. Championship The final matchup took place between #1 and the #14 . Though VNQ was seemingly outmatched, it was able to prevail in a 3-2 victory. SPY’s size and expense ratio bested its smaller competition, but VNQ took the three remaining categories to become an unlikely victor. In the Men’s NCAA tournament, no team seeded high than eight has ever won the championship. VNQ’s victory may seem surprising given its high seed, but a [...]

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.

Special Report: Alternative ETFs

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:24:57 -0400

Alternative exchange traded fund strategies are garnering a greater following as investors look for options other than traditional beta-indexing products to diversify their portfolios. Alternative assets can be loosely defined as investments other than the traditional stocks, bonds and cash...

Caution: Defensive Stock Led Rally

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:48:20 -0400

From MyPlanIQ 360 Degree Market View, U.S. stock sectors have the following trend scores: Assets Class Symbols 04/05Trend Score 03/28Trend Score Direction Healthcare XLV 11.91% 13.31% v Utilities XLU 9.17% 9.62% v Consumer Staples XLP 8.93% 11.05% v Consumer Discretionary XLY 7.6% 10.72% v Financial XLF 7.18% 10.46% v Industries XLI 5.32% 8.96% v Energy XLE [...]

Q1 ETF Asset Report: Japan ETFs Reign – ETF News And Commentary

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:48:01 -0400

Which ETFs have seen the biggest inflows in Q1?

Long Term Bonds Surged Amid Stocks Consolidating

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:05:07 -0400

The latest trend scores of major asset classes show that long term bonds (IEF, TLT) surged even US stocks and international stocks are hanging tough. In the meantime, US REITs is making new high post the financial crisis. This indicates that high yield stocks are favored. Assets Class Symbols 04/04Trend Score 03/28Trend Score Direction [...]

Four reasons why boomerang effect will prolong stock rally

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:43:11 -0400

By John Wasik (Reuters) – This is no April Fool’s day joke, but catastrophes are good forstocks - eventually. The market usually boomerangs into massive rallies in the wake of them. That’s what seems to be happening now, which sustains the argument for a continued rally after the S&P 500 index and the DowJones Industrial Average hit [...]

April 1, 2013: Momentum Over Stocks, Sector And Style Funds

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:28:52 -0400

We present performance results on momentum based stock funds, sector rotation and style rotation. We further make observations on the effectiveness of momentum based investing in various categories.

March 25, 2013: New Feature: Advanced Static Portfolios & Lazy Portfolio Asset Allocations

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:20:42 -0400

A new feature allows users to use their allocations to create portfolios for a list of funds (such as a 401k plan or a brokerage recommended funds such as Fidelity Fund Picks or Schwab OneSource Select Funds) and receive monthly or quarterly rebalance emails.

Buy Your Retirement Real Estate Now and Save Money

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:52:11 -0400

You may not be ready to retire yet, but that does not mean you shouldn’t be thinking about where you will live when you do.

CNBC reported that with home values down more than 50 percent from the height of the housing market – and starting to rise again –

REIT ETFs: Real Winners in 2013? – ETF News And Commentary

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:00:01 -0400

Are REIT ETFs the place to be in 2013?

Real Estate ETFs–Real Winners in 2013? – ETF News And Commentary

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:37:01 -0400

REIT ETFs are becoming increasingly popular this year mainly due to their attractive yields and improving real estate markets.

A Blended Investments Style Can Lead to High Returns With Low Risk

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:11:44 -0400

BY DAVID JOHN MAROTTA A client directed me recently to and article by Vanessa Sumo about Tobias Moskowitz’s recent research paper. The article was titled A Better Bet A blended investment style for all markets can lead to high returns with low risk. The opening paragraph sets the stage: One of the principal lessons of portfolio theory is [...]

Top ETFs for the Real Estate Recovery – ETF News And Commentary

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:00:01 -0400

Could these be a few ETFs to focus on if the real estate market continues to come back?

Which Type Of REIT ETF Is Right For You?

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:00:19 -0400

U.S. stocks have rebounded with full force since the housing market crisis simmered, with major equity indexes sitting at, or nearing, all-time highs. While many on Wall Street have undeniably enjoyed stellar returns since the bottom in 2009, the ultra-low interest rate environment at home and around the globe continues to pose a major challenge for income-seeking investors of all types [see 101 High Yielding ETFs For Every Dividend Investor]. As a result, dividend-paying securities have become very appealing, as meaningful current income has been hard to come by amid the loose monetary policies implemented by major central banks. One particular corner of the market that has rebounded with great vigor and also offers a lucrative opportunity to generate yield happens to be one of the culprits behind the last economic downturn: real estate. More specifically, REITs have surged in popularity among income-hungry investors as they hold a special place in every dividend investors’ heart; these securities must pay [...]

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.

Best REIT and Real Estate ETFs for Yield

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:21:58 -0400

ETFs tracking real estate investment trusts such as the Vanguard REIT Index (NYSEArca: VNQ) are a way for investors to participate in the recovering economy and property market, while earning some income. REITs tend to diversify better than an average real estate ETF. “Although REITs offer...

March 18, 2013: Are Bond Investors Doomed?

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:30:05 -0400

Fixed income bond investing is still full of opportunities.

Country Stocks: Is Italy The Only One That Has Negative Trend?

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:34:34 -0400

The following shows the trend scores of 23 country stock ETFs: lass Symbols 03/11Trend Score 03/04Trend Score Direction Australia EWA 13.92% 10.7% ^ Belgium EWK 12.28% 10.7% ^ Switzerland EWL 11.42% 10.74% ^ Austria EWO 9.91% 9.08% ^ Mexico EWW 9.14% 7.93% ^ Japan EWJ 8.83% 8.7% ^ Spain EWP 8.45% 7.27% ^ Hong Kong [...]

March 11, 2013: How To Evaluate Investing Strategies

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:30:44 -0400

Understand the nature of a strategy and setting up the right expectation is the key in investment success. Current situation calls for extreme cautions.

Major Asset Class Trends: Bonds & Commodities Are Laggards

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:56:58 -0400

For the week ending on 3/8/2013, the following the major asset trends: Assets Class Symbols 03/08Trend Score 03/01Trend Score Direction International REITs RWX 11.77% 11.73% ^ US Stocks VTI 8.23% 6.5% ^ International Developed Stks EFA 7.51% 5.46% ^ US Equity REITs VNQ 6.93% 6.65% ^ Emerging Market Stks VWO 3.77% 2.37% ^ US [...]

From the Archives: Was It Really a Lost Decade?

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:23:41 -0500

Index Universe has a provocative article by Rob Arnott and John West of Research Affiliates. Their contention is that 2000-2009 was not really a lost decade. Perhaps if your only asset was U.S. equities it would seem that way,

March 4, 2013: Systematic Investing vs. Market Noises

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:02:55 -0500

Review of all weather portfolios including permanent portfolios, four pillar foundation based and risk parity based Bridgewater's portfolios.

Vanguard REIT ETF Yielding Over 3% Beating S&P 500

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 08:13:46 -0500

ETF Spotlight on the Vanguard REIT ETF (NYSEArca: VNQ), part of an ongoing series. The real estate investment trust ETF is yielding more than 3%. The REIT fund has a three-year annualized return of 20%, compared with 13% for SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEArca: SPY). Assets: $17.2 billion. Objective: The...

David Swensen and The Yale Model

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:30:29 -0500

David Swensen doesn’t have a household name like Warren Buffett or Jim Rogers. But he’s one the greatest investors of our time. Many even consider him the “Babe Ruth” of endowment fund managers.

>> David Swensen and The Yale Model