Sector ETFs

This was a huge week for the marijuana industry: Canada became the second country in the world to legalize cannabis for recreational uses. “October 17 was set as the first day for recreational sales. Some people in the industry wanted an earlier date, but at least companies can now make plans...

E*TRADE Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) said Wednesday it added 46 exchange traded funds to commission-free platform. With the latest additions, E*TRADE now offers more than 250 ETFs on a commission-free basis. The 46 newly added funds come from six issuers: Direxion, iShares, Janus Henderson,...

Several exchange traded funds dedicated to the blockchain investment theme have come to market this year, but all are heavily focused on domestic or developed market equities. That changed Wednesday with the debut of the Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy China ETF (NASDAQ: BCNA), the first...

By most indications, the U.S. economy is in good shape. For traders and investors, it’s in the “Goldilocks zone” of low rates, low inflation and high corporate profits. These conditions make it seem as though the economy is primed for more growth, which makes most equity...

The future of financial services is already arriving through the financial technology industry, which is accessible via the Global X FinTech ETF (NASDAQ: FINX). FINX, which debuted in September 2016, follows the Indxx Global Fintech Thematic Index. The Global X ETF offers exposure to companies in...

Ahead of the September debut of the new communications services sector, State Street Global Advisors, the largest issuer of sector exchange traded funds, launched a sector SPDR to track the new sector. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLC) debuted Tuesday. Communication services...

Later this week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia meet in Vienna. The cartel and Russia, the largest non-OPEC oil producer, are expected to discuss potentially upping output to take advantage of higher prices. Year-to-date, oil is one of the best-performing commodities...

It may not be as large as the bond market or as ubiquitous as real estate, but the stock market is definitely the most talked about of the financial markets. And while this has pretty much always been the case, the rise of index investing and robo-advisors in the last decade or so has certainly...

It may not be as large as the bond market or as ubiquitous as real estate, but the stock market is definitely the most talked about of the financial markets. And while this has pretty much always been the case, the rise of index investing and robo-advisors in the last decade or so has...

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s (NYSE: JPM) J.P. Morgan Asset Management, a unit that includes the bank's exchange traded funds business, introduced its first plain vanilla ETF Monday and entered the field of funds offering exposure to real estate investment trusts. The JPMorgan...

In a big step for cannabis and hemp, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed a 2018 Farm Bill that includes hemp legalization language. “It is no secret that industrial hemp boasts the most significant potential for global economic impact from the cannabis industry. Hemp is a commodity. It...

After surging 37 percent last year, the technology sector is once again leading broader U.S. equity indexes higher. Entering Thursday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 Index was up 13.1 percent year-to-date compared to just 4.6 percent for the S&P 500. A slew of tech-specific exchange traded funds are...

Despite civilization’s rapid forward march toward mechanization, humanity has been routinely bad at predicting the scope, scale and impact of new technologies and the unforeseen consequences brought on by these sometimes massive shifts in how we as humans interact with the world. Case in...

A new breed of exchange traded funds offer investors exposure to the true source of future retail sales growth, that of course being online and e-commerce sales. Among these ETFs is the ProShares Long Online/Short Stores ETF (NYSE: CLIX), which debuted in November. While some new generation...

The Materials Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLB) and other materials exchange-traded funds struggled to start 2018, but the group has recently shown signs of perking up. Last week, XLB gained about 3 percent, pushing its June gain to 4 percent, a move that's erased a year-to-date loss. What...