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Carlyle Group and BMO Global partner to launch private equity strategy for Canada, offering global access to accredited investors through a single fund. 

Carlyle And BMO Team Up: Unveil Private Equity Strategy For Canada

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On CNBC’s &#34;Halftime Report Final Trades,&#34;  Joshua Brown  of Ritholtz Wealth Management picked  iShares U.S.

Qualcomm Is Due To Report Earnings, McDonald&#39;s And More On CNBC&#39;s &#39;Final Trades&#39;

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On CNBC’s &#34;Halftime Report Final Trades,&#34;  Anastasia Amoroso  of JPMorgan Private Bank named  Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF  (NYSE: PSP) 

EQT, Baidu And More: CNBC&#39;s &#39;Final Trades&#39;

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The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CG#NASDAQ">CG</a>) inked a collaboration with Bank of Montreal&#8216;s (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BMO#NYSE">BMO</a>) BMO Global Asset Management (BMO GAM) to aid <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/24/03/n37887041/bmo-and-carlyle-partner-to-launch-a-private-equity-strategy-for-canada" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">private equity strategy for Canada</a>.
This is BMO Global&#8217;s third partnership to widen access to private markets for Canadian accredited investors.
The new strategy will offer access to a global diversified private equity portfolio through a single fund, which is expected to be available this spring.
Shane Clifford, Head of Carlyle Wealth Strategy, said, &#8220;The solution, which is through our AlpInvest platform, will offer accredited investors in Canada direct access to a global portfolio of secondary, co-investment, and primary opportunities providing investors with diversified exposure to the private markets.&#8221;
Jeffrey Shell, Head of Alternatives, BMO GAM, said, &#8220;Together with Carlyle, we are focused on product design that puts the experience of Canadian accredited investors front and centre; this includes allowing monthly subscriptions at relatively low investment minimums and eliminating the need for capital calls, which are a standard feature of funds that are created for institutional investors.&#8221;&nbsp;
Also Read:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/equities/24/03/37827564/navigating-new-waters-thyssenkrupp-reveals-marine-systems-sale-talks-with-carlyle" rel="noreferrer noopener">Navigating New Waters: Thyssenkrupp Reveals Marine Systems Sale Talks With Carlyle</a>
Investors can gain exposure to Carlyle via&nbsp;Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF&nbsp;(NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/PSP#NYSE">PSP</a>) and&nbsp;EA Series Trust WHITEWOLF Publicly Listed Private Equity ETF&nbsp;(BATS:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/LBO#BATS">LBO</a>).
Price Action: CG shares are down 0.58% at $47.12 on the last check Friday.
Photo via Shutterstock

On CNBC&rsquo;s &quot;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/08/01/final-trades-mcdonalds-qualcomm-more.html">Halftime Report Final Trades</a>,&quot; Joshua Brown of Ritholtz Wealth Management picked iShares U.S. Oil &amp; Gas Exploration &amp; Production ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>), adding that &quot;energy is the <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/23/08/33514070/starbucks-phillips-66-and-3-stocks-to-watch-heading-into-wednesday"> next sector to go.&quot; </a>
Liz Young of BNY Mellon Investment Management named iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ief#NASDAQ">IEF</a>) as her final trade.
Jim Lebenthal of Cerity Partners named Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/qcom#NASDAQ">QCOM</a>), which is due to report quarterly earnings on Aug. 2.
See Also: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/23/08/33498507/qualcomm-earnings-preview-poised-to-outperform-despite-chip-excess-concerns-analyst">Qualcomm Earnings Preview - Poised To Outperform Despite Chip Excess Concerns, Analyst Predicts</a>
Analysts expect Qualcomm to report quarterly earnings at $1.81 per share on revenue of $8.51 billion after the closing bell.
Stephanie Link of Hightower said McDonald&#39;s Corporation (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/mcd#NYSE">MCD</a>) reported one of the best quarters so far this earnings season.
McDonald&#39;s reported second-quarter FY23 sales growth of 13.6% year-on-year to $6.50 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $6.29 billion. Adjusted EPS of $3.17 beat the analyst consensus of $2.79.
Don&rsquo;t forget to check out our <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/premarket/"> premarket coverage here </a> 
Price Action: McDonald&#39;s shares fell 0.7% to settle at $291.07, while QUALCOMM shares fell 0.1% to close at $132.08 on Tuesday.
Check This Out: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/23/08/33513689/fear-greed-index-moves-to-greed-zone-after-s-p-500-settles-lower"> Fear &amp; Greed Index Moves To &#39;Greed&#39; Zone After S&amp;P 500 Settles Lower </a>

Qualcomm Is Due To Report Earnings, McDonald's And More On CNBC's 'Final Trades'

On CNBC&rsquo;s &quot;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/07/31/final-trades-baidu-eqt-more.html">Halftime Report Final Trades</a>,&quot; Anastasia Amoroso of JPMorgan Private Bank named Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/23/07/33468874/insiders-buying-allegion-asana-and-this-financial-services-stock">as her final trade. </a>
Joseph Terranova of Virtus Investment Partners picked EQT Corporation (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/eqt#NYSE">EQT</a>).
EQT posted better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed expectations.
Stephen Weiss of Short Hills Capital Partners named Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/bidu#NASDAQ">BIDU</a>) as his final trade
OTR Global recently downgraded Baidu from Positive to Mixed.
Don&rsquo;t forget to check out our <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/premarket/"> premarket coverage here</a>.
Price Action: Baidu shares rose 0.4% to settle at $155.99, while EQT shares fell 0.2% to close at $42.18 on Monday 
Check This Out: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/07/33468546/check-out-3-materials-stocks-with-over-3-dividend-yields-from-wall-streets-most-accurate-analysts"> Check Out 3 Materials Stocks With Over 3% Dividend Yields From Wall Street&#39;s Most Accurate Analysts </a>
Photo via Shutterstock.&nbsp;

EQT, Baidu And More: CNBC's 'Final Trades'

Private equity firm&nbsp;TA Associates&nbsp;was in advanced discussions to acquire&nbsp;Advent International&nbsp;owned enterprise software company&nbsp;Unit4 NV&nbsp;for over $2 billion,&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-18/ta-is-said-to-be-in-advanced-talks-to-buy-advent-s-unit4-kmfbgbze?sref=TBDibEcD" style="color:#4a6ee0; background:transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt" target="_blank">Bloomberg reports</a>.
<ul>
<li>Last year, Advent renewed plans to divest Netherlands-based Unit4 after receiving takeover interest from a special purpose acquisition company (<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.benzinga.com/topic/spacs" style="color:#4a6ee0; background:transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt" target="_blank">SPAC</a>).</li>
<li>Bloomberg notes that Unit4 offered cloud-based enterprise resource planning software, financial forecasting, payroll, and student management systems with over 6,000 customers.</li>
<li>Advent acquired Unit4 for $1.4 billion (&euro;1.2 billion) in 2013. Advent had previously abandoned its plan to sell Unit4 in 2018.</li>
<li>Unit4&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/21/02/n19417404/unit4-achieves-significant-strategy-milestones-in-2020-to-deliver-exceptional-financial-results-an" style="color:#4a6ee0; background:transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt" target="_blank">cloud bookings</a>&nbsp;grew 82% in the fourth quarter of FY20. Cloud subscription revenue grew 12% to $29.6 million. Total bookings rose 20%. Strong global growth, including its North American business following growing demand for the Unit4 Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform and its new ERPx solution drove the results.</li>
<li>Any deal for Unit4 would add to $116 billion of transactions already announced in the global software industry for 2021, up 60% year on year, as per Bloomberg.</li>
</ul>

Tech

TA In Advanced Talks For Acquiring Advent's Unit4 Software Business: Bloomberg

Finding exchange traded funds chock full of companies that are positively revising earnings estimates is becoming increasingly difficult in the current environment.
A <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/20/02/15424879/3-etfs-chock-full-of-companies-with-negative-earnings-revisions">recent examination of ETFs</a> littered with companies doing just the opposite proves as much. However, there are some funds that are homes to companies that are lifting forecasts and, not surprisingly, those ETFs are performing better than the broader market.
&ldquo;Buoyed by their improving outlooks, these funds have performed better as a group than the market overall. On average these funds declined 3.0% over the past 30 days, compared with -5.3% for the S&amp;P 500 SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/spy#NYSE">SPY</a>) and the and -5.7% for the iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/acwi#NASDAQ">ACWI</a>) of global stocks,&rdquo; said the <a href="https://www.etfrc.com/index.php">ETF Research Center (ETFRC) in a recent note</a>.
Here are three ETFs where the components are looking good on the earnings front.
<h3>Invesco Dynamic Semiconductors ETF (PSI)</h3>
This one may comes as a surprise given the recent weakness among semiconductor stocks, but the Invesco Dynamic Semiconductors ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/psi#NYSE">PSI</a>) tops the ETFRC list for biggest positive earnings revisions over the past month at 5.9%.
PSI follows the Dynamic Semiconductor Intellidex Index, which is &ldquo;designed to provide capital appreciation by thoroughly evaluating companies based on a variety of investment merit criteria, including: price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action, and value,&rdquo;<a href="https://www.invesco.com/us/financial-products/etfs/product-detail?productId=ETF-PSI"> according to Invesco</a>.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/nvda#NASDAQ">NVDA</a>) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/amd#NASDAQ">AMD</a>) combine for 12% of PSI&#39;s weight.
<h3>Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF (PSP)</h3>
The Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>) is one of the funds in a sparesely populated ETF category and features a collection of private equity firms, business development companies (BDCs) and master limited partnerships (MLPs).
Proving that these type of companies have handled the recent volatility with some earnings aplomb, positive revisions here check in at 4.1%, according to ETFRC data.
PSP is also an income play as highlighted by the fund&#39;s trailing 12-month distribution <a href="https://www.invesco.com/us/financial-products/etfs/product-detail?productId=ETF-PSP">rate of 6.34%</a>.
<h3>Invesco S&amp;P SmallCap Utilities &amp; Communication Services ETF (PSCU)</h3>
Even utilities belied their normally defensive reputation during the recent market swoon and small caps were hardly better. However, that combination isn&#39;t derailing the Invesco S&amp;P SmallCap Utilities &amp; Communication Services ETF (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/pscu#NASDAQ">PSCU</a>) from being a surprise on the earnings, placing third on the ETFRC list behind PSI and PSP.
Over 55% of PSCU&#39;s roster is allocated to communication services, but its top four utilities holdings combine for over 36% of the fund&#39;s weight.
Positive earnings revisions have been north of 3% for PSCU over the past month.
Related Links:
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<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/20/02/15390887/consider-quick-upside-from-downside-in-chips-with-this-etf">How To Deal With Chip Stocks Right Now</a>

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PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust Dynamic Semiconductor Portfolio

3 ETFs For Stocks With Positive Earnings Revisions

Private equity is often thought of as territory reserved for endowments, pension plans and other institutional and high net worth investors.
Some exchange traded funds make the private equity universe more accessible to ordinary investors. That group includes the Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>).
<h3>What To Know</h3>
As is the case with any ETF, the Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF has its pros and its cons. Notably, the fund charges 2.03 percent per year, the equivalent of $203 on a $10,000 investment. That&#39;s well above average for a passively managed ETF.
Additionally, publicly traded private equity companies reside in the financial services sector, meaning the group is coming <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/19/01/12911949/investors-disdain-for-bank-stocks-could-lift-these-etfs">off a brutal 2018</a>. PSP lost 15.1&nbsp;percent last year, meaning it was 210 basis points worse than the Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/xlf#NYSE">XLF</a>).
<h3>Why It&#39;s Important</h3>
Historically, private equity has performed well when broader equity benchmarks declined.
&ldquo;Private equity tends to outperform in periods of falling public equity prices, having done so in 19 of the 20 quarters since 2001 in which public equities registered negative returns,&rdquo; said Morningstar <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/906427/private-equity-pe-outperforms-and-closes-the-valua.html">in a recent note</a>.
PSP holds 62 stocks with an average market capitalization of $12.75 billion. The ETF targets the Red Rocks Global Listed Private Equity Index. That index includes &ldquo;business development companies, master limited partnerships and other vehicles whose principal business is to invest in, lend capital to or provide services to privately held companies (collectively, listed private equity companies),&rdquo; <a href="https://www.invesco.com/portal/site/us/financial-professional/etfs/product-detail?productId=PSP">according to Invesco</a>.
&ldquo;Since 2001, PE funds have outperformed the S&amp;P 500 in 19 of the 20 quarters in which public equity returns were negative,&rdquo; said Morningstar. &ldquo;Skeptics will claim that PE firms are simply being overly optimistic (or even naive) during these public market drawdowns, but we find a hesitance by PE funds to aggressively mark to market regardless of the direction of the change. Indeed, in the 20 quarters since 2001 when public equity returns exceeded 5%, PE returns have trailed 15 times.&rdquo;
One challenge facing PSP over the near-term is an approximately 40 percent weight to growth stocks, an investment factor that&#39;s out of favor right now. Additionally, PSP has a 12-month distribution rate of 6.68 percent, meaning it&#39;s a high-yielding asset that could be vulnerable to more interest rate increases.
Related Links:
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/19/01/12939266/an-evolving-quality-etf">Change Is Meaningful With This Quality ETF</a>
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/19/01/12939264/the-long-term-case-for-robotics-etfs-remains-in-tact">There&#39;s Still A Case For Robotics ETFs</a>

Putting Private Equity On Your Side With An ETF

At the end of 2014, the 50 largest private equity firms had a combined $1.5 trillion in assets under management. Chances are, none of those assets were yours, but there is good news for regular investors looking to get on the private equity game.
A fair amount of private equity companies are publicly traded. The better news is that investors do not need to stock pick in this corner of the market, because the PowerShares Listed Private Eq. (ETF) (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>) offers access to a basket of private equity firms.
<h3>PSP Under The Microscope</h3>
PSP follows the Red Rocks Global Listed Private Equity Index, which &ldquo;includes securities, ADRs and GDRs of 40 to 75 private equity companies, including business development companies (BDCs), master limited partnerships (MLPs) and other vehicles whose principal business is to invest in, lend capital to or provide services to privately held companies (collectively, listed private equity companies),&rdquo; <a href="https://www.invesco.com/portal/site/us/financial-professional/etfs/product-detail?productId=PSP&amp;title=powershares-global-listed-private-equity-portfolio">according to PowerShares</a>.
<bzrelatedlink>Related Link: <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/16/02/6689933/a-better-way-to-the-dow-with-this-etf">A Better Way To The Dow With This ETF</a></bzrelatedlink>
PSP currently holds 63 stocks, including familiar names such as Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psec#NASDAQ">PSEC</a>), The Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cg#NASDAQ">CG</a>) and Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bx#NYSE">BX</a>).
While PSP is an interesting ETF, it is not a perfect ETF. As a financial services fund, PSP has not been able to endure that sector&#39;s decline this year, but down 10.3 percent year-to-date, PSP is outperforming many traditional financial services ETFs.
The tidy profits generated by private equity firms for the affluent and institutional investors that make their client bases keep those clients coming back, but PSP has its own selling point for income investors. PSP, home to nearly $316 million in assets under management, has a trailing 12-month distribution rate of 11.6 percent, according to issuer data.
That robust yield is compensating investors for risk, risk that includes a top in venture funding that could force some of PSP&#39;s holdings to limit investments in the near term.
As <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/general/education/16/01/6128361/evidence-venture-capital-funding-has-peaked">Benzinga reported</a> earlier this year, &ldquo;According to PitchBook&rsquo;s annual report, venture capital funding has peaked and is now headed lower. After concerns over rising valuations and constant streams of unicorn births began to arise in 2014, PitchBook notes that investors finally started to become cautious in the space in the second half of 2015.&rdquo;
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According to PitchBook&rsquo;s annual report, venture capital funding has peaked and is now headed lower. After concerns over rising valuations and constant streams of unicorn births began to arise in 2014, PitchBook notes that investors finally started to become cautious in the space in the second half of 2015.

	The number of U.S. venture rounds closed plunged 25.8 percent from Q2 to Q4 2015. However, editor Garret Black notes that there was still an incredible amount of activity on the year.

	<img alt="" src="/files/u81483/venture.jpg" style="width: 480px; height: 244px;" />

	Related Link: <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/general/education/16/01/6127557/record-auto-sales-fueled-by-debt-likened-to-subprime-mortgage-market#ixzz3wgFCbW3O">Record Auto Sales Fueled By Debt, Likened To Subprime Mortgage Market By Regulators</a>&nbsp;

	&ldquo;The investment environment is particularly complex right now, what with limited partners still funneling plenty of capital to VC fund managers as recent venture returns tick upward, concerns around Asian growth prospects persisting, and liquidity prospects staying uncertain for the short-term,&rdquo; Black writes.

	The PowerShares Listed Private Eq. (ETF) (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>) is down 12.5 percent in the past six months.

	Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.

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Evidence Venture Capital Funding Has Peaked

ETF Outlook for Tuesday, April 15, 2014

	iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ewh#NYSE">EWH</a>)

	A gap higher to begin the week was enough for EWH to rally to the best level since January 2008. Often times Hong Kong is attached to China when it comes to investment performance, however they are greatly different.

	Over the last two years EWH is up 22 percent versus a loss of three percent for the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fxi#NYSE">FXI</a>). The ETF has 90 percent of its assets in companies based in Hong Kong and seven percent in Macau. The financial stocks make up the largest portion of the portfolio.

	First Trust ISE Natural Gas Index ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fcg#NYSE">FCG</a>)

	Even though the price of natural gas fell for the second consecutive session on Monday, the related stocks were higher as they traded at the best level in three years. The ETF closed out the day up 2.5 percent on above average volume.

	See also: <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/etfs/sector-etfs/14/04/4462458/consumer-discretionary-etf-woes-continue">Consumer Discretionary ETF Woes Continue</a>

	Two of the top three holdings, which make up 8.3 percent of the portfolio, had big days Monday. Goodrich Petroleum (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gdp#NYSE">GDP</a>) surged 30 percent with Comstock Resources (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/crk#NYSE">CRK</a>) up nine percent. The combination of the two stocks was enough to push the ETF to the multi-year high.

	PowerShares Private Equity Portfolio ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>)

	The high-income producing ETF took a hit yesterday as it fell to the lowest level in two months with a drop of 2.3 percent. The ETF has a 12-month distribution yield of 14.17 percent, but is down six percent in the last five weeks.

	Investors appear to be cautious with the private equity situation due to the market weakness as well as the potential of rising interest rates. The ETF does have important long-term support at the $11.25 area that it does continue to hold above that is one positive factor.

	iShares High Dividend ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/hdv#NYSE">HDV</a>)

	Two bellwethers are reporting earnings this morning and should have HDV on the move. Both Johnson &amp; Johnson (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/jnj#NYSE">JNJ</a>)and Coca-Cola (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ko#NYSE">KO</a>) announce their earnings before the bell Tuesday.

	The two stocks account for 11.4 percent of the entire portfolio in the ETF. The ETF has outperformed the major indices recently and is only 0.7 percent from the closing high set last week. As money has been coming out of the high-flying tech stocks it has been moving into sectors such as consumer staples and therefore HDV has benefited.

Emerging Market ETFs

Pre-Market Outlook

First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index Fund

ETF Outlook for Tuesday, April 15, 2014 (EWH, FCG, PSP, HDV)

The top performing exchange traded funds (ETFs) over the six months that are trading for less than $15 a share (as of this writing) are focused on clean energy. Interest in clean energy has seen something of a resurgence this year. 

First Trust Global Wind Energy (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fan#NYSE">FAN</a>), iShares S&amp;P Global Clean Energy Index (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/icln#NASDAQ">ICLN</a>), PowerShares Global Clean Energy (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pbd#NYSE">PBD</a>) and PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pbw#NYSE">PBW</a>) are all up more than 40 percent in the past six months and trading near their 52-week highs.

Some other top performing ETFs under $15 of note include Global X China Industrials ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/chii#NYSE">CHII</a>), iShares MSCI Italy Index (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ewi#NYSE">EWI</a>) and PowerShares Global Listed Private Equity (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>).

First Trust Global Wind Energy

Shares (units) opened Monday at about $10.65, about 15 cents shy of the 52-week high reached on Friday. This this is the only real wind ETF, and it has considerable international exposure. Also note that, this summer, the United States regained the lead in annual wind power capacity from China.

The nondiversified fund seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield of the ISE Global Wind Energy Index. It is a benchmark for investors interested in tracking public companies throughout the world that are active in the wind energy industry.

The share price is more than 43 percent higher than six months ago, as well as up more than 52 percent since the beginning of the year. Over the past six months, the ETF has outperformed not only the S&amp;P 500, but also iShares S&amp;P Global Clean Energy Index and PowerShares Global Clean Energy.

See also: <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/etfs/sector-etfs/13/10/3967798/buying-energy-etfs-on-pullback-uso-xle-frak">Buying Energy ETFs On Pullback</a>

iShares S&amp;P Global Clean Energy Index

After opening Monday at $10.38, shares crept upward in early trading toward the 52-week high of $10.58 from last Friday. This ETF is more than five years old and has considerable exposure to Japan and China, as well as a focus on biofuels, ethanol and geothermal energy, solar and wind energy.

The investment seeks to track the investment results of the S&amp;P Global Clean Energy Index, which is designed to track the performance of about 30 of the most liquid and tradable securities of global companies involved in clean energy related businesses. Top holdings in the ETF include First Solar (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fslr#NASDAQ">FSLR</a>).

The share price is about 43 percent higher than at the beginning of the year, including a more than 12 percent rise in the past month. Over the past six months, the ETF has outperformed PowerShares Global Clean Energy, as well as the Nasdaq.

PowerShares Global Clean Energy

This ETF started the week at $11.67 per share, or about 11 cents shy of Friday's multiyear high. With its focus on companies engaged in greener and renewable sources of energy and on technologies that facilitate cleaner energy, at least one analyst sees this one rallying in the fourth quarter despite the gains so far this year.

The investment seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield of the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index. Top holdings include Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/tsla#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>), Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/veco#NASDAQ">VECO</a>) and Cree (NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cree#NASDAQ">CREE</a>). 

The share price is 45 percent higher year to date, including up more than 10 percent in the past month. Over the past six months, this stock has outperformed PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/pzd#NYSE">PZD</a>) and the broader markets.

PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy

This ETF hit a new multiyear high of $6.57 in early Monday trading. Shares have not traded in that neighborhood in more than two years. Exposure to Chinese solar companies has given this clean energy ETF a boost.

The underlying index, the WilderHill Clean Energy Index, is comprised of the stocks that Wilder Hill believes will substantially benefit from a societal transition toward the use of cleaner energy and conservation. Top holdings include Trina Solar (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/tsl#NYSE">TSL</a>) and Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/yge#NYSE">YGE</a>).

The share price is up more than 53 percent from six months ago, including more than 12 percent in the past month. The stock has outperformed the other ETFs featured here, as well as the broader markets, over the past six months.

See also: <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/etfs/13/10/3969210/seven-etfs-on-a-roll-bib-socl-tan">Seven ETFs On A Roll</a>

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

CHII

CREE

FSLR

iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index Fund

ICLN

PowerShares Global Clean Energy Portfolio

PowerShares Exchange Traded Fund Trust WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio

TSLA

VECO

Four Top-Performing Clean Energy ETFs Under $15 (FAN, ICLN, PBD, PBW)

iShares Dow Jones US Financial Sector Index Fund

PowerShares Dynamic Financial Sector Portfolio

Top 10 Financial ETFs

ProShares, the fifth-largest U.S. ETF issuer by assets at the end of February, has filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to possibly introduce two new ETFs that would expand the company's lineup of non-leveraged and non-inverse products.

Maryland-based ProShares has filed plans for the ProShares Listed Private Equity ETF and the ProShares Merger Arbitrage ETF. Tickers and expense ratios for the funds were not included in the filings.

The ProShares Listed Private Equity ETF would appear to be a possible rival to the PowerShares Global Listed Private Equity Portfolio (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>). That ETF has been around since 2006 and has over $290 million in assets under management despite sporting an expense ratio 2.55%. PSP has risen almost 19% year-to-date.

The ProShares Merger Arbitrage ETF would be walking into a rivalry with the IndexIQ Merger Arbitrage ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/mna#NYSE">MNA</a>). MNA debuted in November 2009 and has an expense ratio of 0.76%. Current top-10 holdings in MNA include El Paso (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ep#NYSE">EP</a>) and Illumina (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/ilmn#Nasdaq">ILMN</a>).

Broad U.S. Equity ETFs

New ETFs

Intraday Update

ILMN

ProShares Files For Arbitrage, Private Equity ETFs (PSP, MNA)

<div class="widget-wrapper"><a class="Covestor_hook" href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus"> </a>
<script class="Covestor_injector" type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.covestor.com/chart/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus"></script></div>
<a href="http://blog.covestor.com/content/2011/09/Deshurko_photo.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-11971" title="Bill DeShurko" src="http://blog.covestor.com/content/2011/09/Deshurko_photo-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a>Author: Bill DeShurko, <a href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor">401 Advisor</a>
Covestor model: <a href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus">Dividend and Income Plus</a>
Disclosure: Long PSP
One mistake many investors make is to view their portfolio in a vacuum. While many strategies are designed to minimize market influences, the truth is that the markets have become extraordinarily correlated since the financial crisis. So when reviewing performance and strategy for my <a href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus">Dividend </a><a href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus">and </a><a href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus">Income </a><a href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus">Plus </a><a href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus">portfolio</a>, I always look at what is happening to the overall market.
Below is a chart of the SPDR S&amp;P 500 ETF Trust<a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/SPY?link=MW_story_quote"> (<a class="ticker" href="/stock/spy#">SPY</a>)</a> The horizontal white lines show the trading range the market was in for the first half of 2011. After the summer 2011 selloff and subsequent rally, the market re-entered the trading range around the first of this year. It was clear at that point that regardless of where the market went, the media would make the next move out to be the beginning of either the next great bull market, or the return of the secular bear.
Either way the market went, it was fairly meaningless as far as predicting the longer-term trend. Instead, having entered back into an established trading range, the markets were more likely to test the range's resistance around 136 and support around 128. Any bouncing around between these levels would just be the market consolidating its rally, prior to the next move.
 
<a href="http://blog.covestor.com/content/2012/02/deshurkospy.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-14742" title="deshurkospy" src="http://blog.covestor.com/content/2012/02/deshurkospy.png" alt="" width="600" /></a>
 
What would be important would be any breakout above or below these levels.
Sticking with this thesis, I decided to review account holdings over the last couple weeks as the market continued its climb toward that upper resistance level. If I'm right, the market should head lower, toward support, for the rest of February.
First, a word on my "predictions." One thing that continually surprises me is how poorly most people understand the concept of probabilities. A probability is an indication of something that might happen. That is very different from a certainty. However, if we can assign some type of weighting to probabilities they can become very valuable - ask a Vegas sports bookie about spreads and odds.
In this case, there is no certainty that the market is in the process of peaking (temporarily?), but it is a common occurrence, and we have some pretty strong areas of support and resistance that were established over a six-month period in 2011. My point is, I'm not betting the ranch here, and I'm certainly not going to make any extreme bets with client money. But after a nice run this year, and a really nice run from last year's market bottom, it is a good time to review holdings and see if our portfolios can benefit from some upgrading. The charts just help with timing the trade.
For my <a href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus">Covestor </a><a href="http://covestor.com/401-advisor/dividend-and-income-plus">portfolio </a>I decided it was time to cut ties with MV Oil Trust (<a class="ticker" href="/stock/mvo#">MVO</a>). While I like its dividend, I get worried about laggards during market rallies.
I also chose to sell another holding, Prospect Capital (<a class="ticker" href="/stock/psec#">PSEC</a>). While PSEC has performed well and pays a very nice dividend, I decided that I felt more comfortable holding PowerShares' Global Private Equity ETF (<a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#">PSP</a>) . Longer term, PSEC and PSP have similar returns, but with the market potentially getting a little stretched, I like the diversity of the ETF vs. an individual holding. (More on the "buy" side in a later post.)
When I looked at the chart for SPY above, I decided I would do the sells, but hold off on the subsequent buys. If I'm right and the market consolidates and heads down to its prior resistance level, I will have made a good choice and can buy my new holdings at a better price. If I'm wrong, all I give up is a little upside as the market breaks through resistance. If the fundamentals are strong, I can look to buy around the 138 level. If the market breaks out to the upside and I don't get back in until later, I could be giving up some potential gain. But I also have raised extra cash for my portfolio if the market drops to the support level around 128.
Overall, I am still bullish and would prefer being 100% long. But when planning portfolio changes, it can make sense to observe the overall market, make your assumptions, and act accordingly. In this case I just can't see making a buy decision when it looks to me like we are approaching a pretty strong resistance level. And fundamentally - with falling corporate earnings and continued troubles in Europe - I see far more compelling the arguments for the market to temporarily pause than for it to power through to new highs.
Covestor Ltd. is a registered investment advisor. Covestor licenses investment strategies from its Model Managers to establish investment models. The commentary here is provided as general and impersonal information and should not be construed as recommendations or advice. Information from Model Managers and third-party sources deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Transaction histories for Covestor models available upon request. Additional important disclosures available at <a href="http://site.covestor.com/help/disclosures" title="http://site.covestor.com/help/disclosures">http://site.covestor.com/help/disclosures</a>. For information about Covestor and its services, go to <a href="http://covestor.com" title="http://covestor.com">http://covestor.com</a> or contact Covestor Client Services at (866) 825-3005, x703.

Using technical points to aid portfolio decisions

In case you didn't get the memo, Republican voters head to the polls in South Carolina on Saturday for the third nominating showdown of the 2012 race for the GOP nomination. The latest polls show former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney ahead by substantial margins in the Palmetto State, but former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has narrowed the gap in recent days.

Should Romney win in South Carolina, adding to his victory New Hampshire, it could be the swan song for several of his GOP rivals. Still, nothing should be taken for granted. As MSNBC reported, over a third of likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina said they could change their minds before heading to the polls.

Or one could just assume Romney wins and becomes the presumptive nominee for the privilege of challenging President Obama. 

There's an ETF for that, and by "that" we mean a Romney nomination. Actually, there are several ETFs for Romney nomination, so here is the Mitt Romney ETF Portfolio.

PowerShares Global Listed Private Equity ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>)
It's not a stretch to say that if folks know one thing about Romney's life outside of politics, it's either that he's Mormon or that he made his fortune in the private equity business with Bain Capital. With the latter factoid in mind, we present the PowerShares Global Listed Private Equity ETF.

Hey, this niche fund might be the definitive Mitt Romney ETF. PSP, which has almost $245 million in assets under management and a yield of almost 8%, lives up to its global billing. Eight countries besides the U.S. are represented in this ETF.

Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xlv#NYSE">XLV</a>)
The political issue that Romney is arguably most associated with is health care. That alone makes XLV a good pick for this mock portfolio. Of course, it should be noted that back in August 2011, it was <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/16/mitt-romney-s-portfolio-has-investments-in-health-care-stocks.html">reported that Romney</a> owns shares in an XLV constituent, that being Abbott Labs (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/abt#NYSE">ABT</a>). That stock accounts for 5.25% of XLV's as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select Index Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/kld#NYSE">KLD</a>)
As we said earlier, much has been made of the fact that Romney is Mormon. In this day and age, that really shouldn't matter, but everyone who isn't Mormon seems to know that members of the faith do not drink alcohol, caffeine or smoke. That means an ETF focused on socially responsible investing like the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select Index Fund deserves a spot in this portfolio. Even though Starbucks (Nasdaq: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/sbux#Nasdaq">SBUX</a>) is KLD's second-largest holding, there are no alcohol and tobacco stocks in this ETF.

iShares Dow Jones US Broker-Dealers ETF (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/iai#NYSE">IAI</a>)
The Wall Street crowd often makes its presence felt in electoral politics through contributions to both parties. It's pretty safe to say that by the time November rolls around, IAI constituents will have given millions of dollars to President Obama and his challenger.

Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xle#NYSE">XLE</a>)
Interesting: Since 1990, individuals and political action committees affiliated with oil and gas companies have donated $238.7 million to candidates and parties, according to OpenSecrets.Org.
Not breaking news: 75% of that total has gone to Republicans.

Among the top energy industry contributors to political campaigns in the 2011-2012 election cycle, five are top-10 holdings in XLE. Those stocks are Exxon Mobil (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/xom#NYSE">XOM</a>), Chevron (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cvx#NYSE">CVX</a>), Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/oxy#NYSE">OXY</a>), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cop#NYSE">COP</a>) and Halliburton (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/hal#NYSE">HAL</a>).

Commodities

Politics

Events

iShares Dow Jones US Broker Dealers Index Fund

iShares MSCI USA ESG Select Social Index Fund

SBUX

The Mitt Romney ETF Portfolio

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Qc5HUb0Zk0/TqVT0L71OvI/AAAAAAAAC1s/mEQNW-K7SOk/s1600/New%2BPicture%2B%25281%2529.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Qc5HUb0Zk0/TqVT0L71OvI/AAAAAAAAC1s/mEQNW-K7SOk/s400/New%2BPicture%2B%25281%2529.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667027862137682674" border="0" /></a>On Thursday October 20th, PSP Investments (<a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#">PSP</a>) held its <a href="http://investpsp.ca/en/annual-public-meetings.asp">Annual Public Meeting 2011</a>. You can download the <a href="http://investpsp.ca/pdf/Annual_Public_Meeting_2011_Presentation.pdf">Annual Public Meeting presentation for FY2011</a> and listen to the audio in <a href="http://investpsp.ca/media/2011-APM-english.mp3">English</a> or if you prefer, the <a href="http://investpsp.ca/media/2011-APM-bilingual.mp3">bilingual version</a>.
Paul Cantor, the Chair of the Board spoke first. He discussed the shift into private markets and the Auditor General of Canada <a href="http://investpsp.ca/en/special-exam-report.asp">Special Examination Report</a>. Paul was satisfied with the report and said that PSP has the "best nomination process among public and private funds." He commended PSP's past and present board of directors, making a special mention of Bob Baldwin who recently retired from the Board. He also praised PSP's senior management and PSP's 350 employees and PSP's "risk management." Finally, he announced he will be stepping down as Chair of the Board at the end of the current fiscal year (March 31st, 2012).
PSP's President and CEO, Gordon Fyfe, then spoke and went over PSP's Policy Portfolio. The strategy is similar to other large Canadian public funds, ie. shift assets out of public markets and into private markets, as well as focus on managing assets internally as opposed to external funds. PSP introduced a new asset class called "Renewable Resources," where it invests in properties that harvest timber like the <a href="http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2011/06/timberwest-sold-to-pspib-and-bcimc.html">Timberwest deal</a> which was done with bcIMC, as well as properties that harvest agricultural products (probably farmland).
In private equity, Gordon spoke of direct investments, noting the investment in Telesat and stating that PSP recorded its best ever one-year return (21%) in private equity during FY 2011. He also stated that PSP sold a portion of the private equity fund portfolio (mega buyout), but provided few details to who and at what price. My sources tell me it was to CPPIB, which they co-invested along with Apax partners to <a href="http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2011/10/pensions-paying-premium-for-pipe-deals.html">acquire Kinetics Concepts</a>, at a significant discount. No details were provided on how much of the stellar results in private equity during FY 2011 were attributable to direct deals and how much was due to the sale of their fund stakes.
In real estate, Gordon noted direct investments in Revera, distressed debt strategies, and investments in emerging markets like Brazil. He also noted several co-investments in multi-family and industrial properties were made in the US, in properties in New York City and Washington D.C., but provided few details. As I stated in my previous comment, <a href="http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2011/10/real-estate-isnt-sacred-chalice.html">real estate isn't a 'sacred chalice'</a>.
In infrastructure, Gordon noted that investments were made in five terminal ports in Australia, in a Norwegian pipeline system, and Hydro-electric assets in Canada, but again few details were provided on these investments.
Noting the Auditor General's <a href="http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2011/07/special-examination-or-special-sham.html">special sham report</a>, Gordon stated he was pleased with the conclusions, namely that PSP's assets are safeguarded and controlled, resources are managed economically and effectively and efficiently, and operations carried out effectively. He also cited the report's key observations: key elements of a strong governance framework, PSP continues to develop risk measurement and management capabilities in line with industry, and compensation practices align behaviors while maintaining competitiveness.
Gordon ended by stating that in the first six months of FY2012, the Fund is down 5% mainly due to weakness in global equity markets but this doesn't take into consideration private market investments which are value at the end of the fiscal year. Given the lags in private market valuations, there should be some positive contributions to the Fund's overall performance. Moreover, if some resolution comes out of Europe, global equity markets should perform well in the next few months, benefiting PSP's FY 2012 results.
Once again, the media did not cover PSP's Annual Public Meeting, which goes to show you how much interest mainstream media has in properly covering all large Canadian public pension funds, not just the Caisse and Ontario Teachers. On a personal level, would like to wish Paul Cantor and Bob Baldwin all the best. Have openly criticized many of PSP's decisions, but have also praised others and know that it isn't easy governing a large fund during these turbulent times. Paul and Bob should be commended for navigating through some volatile times at PSP, having to deal with thorny internal issues while dealing with difficult external market conditions. 
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5879608286191780679-3423233167965184847?l=pensionpulse.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>

PSP Investment's Annual Public Meeting 2011

Investor groups said to be vying for $9.65 billion in U.S. property loans held by Anglo Irish Bank include those led by Blackstone Group (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bx#NYSE">BX</a>), Centerbridge Capital Partners, TPG Capital and Cerberus Capital Management. The deadline for bids was yesterday.

The Dublin-based bank was nationalized two years ago and is now seeking to unload the loans, which are backed by buildings from Boston to Beverly Hills, California. Many loans in the portfolio are troubled. The portfolio has been divided into eight pools, with the largest consisting of $2.26 billion of distressed office and industrial loans.

Blackstone is partnering with Deutsche Bank (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/db#NYSE">DB</a>) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/gs#NYSE">GS</a>). Centerbridge has turned to American International Group (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/aig#NYSE">AIG</a>) and BlackRock (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/blk#NYSE">BLK</a>). Cerberus is working with Oaktree Capital Group, while TPG has tapped Lubert-Adler Partners and Pacific Investment Management Co. 

Winners may be selected as soon as early September.

Action Items:

Bullish: Traders interested in ETFs invested in Blackstone might want to consider the following trades:

<ul><li>Guggenheim Multi-Asset Income (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cvy#NYSE">CVY</a>) is up more than 7% in the past year.</li>
<li>First Trust Value Line 100 Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fvl#NYSE">FVL</a>) is up more than 5% in the past year.</li></ul>

Bearish: Traders more interested in ETFs invested in Blackstone's publicly traded rival KKR (NYSE: KKR) may want to consider these alternate positions:

<ul><li>PowerShares Listed Private Equity (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>) is up almost 5% in the past year.</li>
<li>First Trust Value Line Dividend Index (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fvd#NYSE">FVD</a>) is up about 7% in the past year.</li></ul>

Neither Benzinga nor its staff recommend that you buy, sell, or hold any security. We do not offer investment advice, personalized or otherwise. Benzinga recommends that you conduct your own due diligence and consult a certified financial professional for personalized advice about your financial situation.

Asset Sales

First Trust Value Line Dividend Index Fund ETF

Blackstone Among Investors Vying for Anglo Irish's U.S. Loans

Blackstone Group (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/bx#NYSE">BX</a>) has signed a definitive agreement to take health-care payment services company Emdeon (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/em#NYSE">EM</a>) private in a transaction valued at about $3 billion.

Blackstone will pay $19 a share for the Nashville, Tenn., company; the stock closed Thursday at $18.35. Debt financing is being arranged by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Citigroup.

Private equity firm General Atlantic bought a 52% stake in Emdeon in 2006, and Hellman &amp; Friedman acquired the remaining stake in 2008. They took Emdeon public in August 2009. As part of the deal with Blackstone, Hellmann will retain an unspecified minority interest and a seat on the board.

Emdeon offers products and services designed to simplify and streamline health care billing for insurance companies, health care systems and physicians. The company also provides automated billing and document mailing services and insurance card printing, and it offers products specifically for dental and pharmaceutical offices. Revenue last year was $1 billion.

Action Items:

Bullish: Traders interested in ETFs invested in Blackstone might want to consider the following trades:

<ul><li>Guggenheim Multi-Asset Income (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/cvy#NYSE">CVY</a>) is up more than 30% in the past year.</li>
<li>First Trust Value Line 100 Fund (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fvl#NYSE">FVL</a>) is up about 30% in the past year.</li></ul>

Bearish: Traders more interested in ETFs invested in Blackstone's publicly traded rival KKR (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/kkr#NYSE">KKR</a>) may want to consider these alternate positions:

<ul><li>PowerShares Listed Private Equity (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/psp#NYSE">PSP</a>) is up more than 40% in the past year.</li>
<li>First Trust Value Line Dividend Index (NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="/stock/fvd#NYSE">FVD</a>) is up more than 29% in the past year.</li></ul>

Neither Benzinga nor its staff recommend that you buy, sell, or hold any security. We do not offer investment advice, personalized or otherwise. Benzinga recommends that you conduct your own due diligence and consult a certified financial professional for personalized advice about your financial situation.

Blackstone Group to Take Emdeon Private

<img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-18250" title="Welcome Back" src="http://media.itsalltech.com/2011/06/Welcome-Back-300x250.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="250" />
Sony <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/06/03/welcome-back/" target="_blank">announced</a> via its PlayStation Blog today that it is officially launching the “Welcome Back” program for PS Network users. The Welcome Back program is aimed at providing users (every single one) who were affected by the recent month-long downtime of the PlayStation Network help get settled back in. It offers gamers the ability to choose two games for PS3 consoles and two games for PSP consoles, all free of charge.
<blockquote>For PS3 owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back' section in the PlayStation Store, and select 2 titles from the following list:
<ul>
<li>Dead Nation</li>
<li>inFAMOUS</li>
<li>LittleBigPlanet</li>
<li>Super Stardust HD</li>
<li>Wipeout HD + Fury</li>
</ul>
For PSP owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back' section of PlayStation Store on your PSP system and select 2 titles from the following list:
<ul>
<li>LittleBigPlanet (PSP)</li>
<li>ModNation Racers</li>
<li>Pursuit Force</li>
<li>Killzone Liberation</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
In addition, Sony is offering every PlayStation Network user thirty (30) free days of its premium PlayStation Network Plus service. In addition, current PS Network Plus users have been credited 60 days free as well for the service. Next, Sony will be giving every user 100 virtual items for PlayStation Home. Sony is also currently offering its users a few “On Us” movie rentals (free of charge) for this weekend only. Finally, Music Unlimited Premium subscription members will receive an additional 30 days to their account.
Sony decided to offer users all this free stuff following an attack on the PlayStation Network that resulted in nearly a month of downtime while Sony recovered and secured their servers. In the attack, some personal information of users was released, possibly including credit card numbers (although Sony is uncertain about this).
Do you think this is enough for what happened? Do you trust Sony with your personal information anymore?
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Sony launches "Welcome Back" program for PlayStation Network users

<img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17778" title="PSN-welcome-back-program-includes-a-free-download-30-days-free-PlayStation-Plus-Qriocity" src="http://media.itsalltech.com/2011/05/PSN-welcome-back-program-includes-a-free-download-30-days-free-PlayStation-Plus-Qriocity-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
Sony has just published more information about its previously <a href="http://itsalltech.com/2011/05/01/sony-offering-free-downloads-30-days-free-of-playstation-network-plus-and-qriocity-in-light-of-downtime/">announced</a> “<a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/16/details-for-playstation-network-and-qriocity-customer-appreciation-program-in-north-america/" target="_blank">Welcome Back</a>” promotion for PlayStation Network users that were affected (which is everyone) by the three week outage that just <a href="http://itsalltech.com/2011/05/15/sony-psn-restoration-begins-now/">ended</a> yesterday (for some, at least).
The company announced today that is plans to offer every customer in North America the ability to receive two free games of their choice, free movie rentals for one weekend, 30 days free of PlayStation Plus for normal non-subscribers, existing PlayStation Plus users will get a free 60 days, 30 days free for existing Music Unlimited Trial subscription members, and more.
<blockquote>All PlayStation Network customers can select two PS3 games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.
<ul>
<li>Dead Nation</li>
<li>inFAMOUS</li>
<li>LittleBigPlanet</li>
<li>Super Stardust HD</li>
<li>Wipeout HD + Fury</li>
</ul>
For PSP owners, you will be eligible to download two PSP games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.
<ul>
<li>LittleBigPlanet (PSP)</li>
<li>ModNation Racers</li>
<li>Pursuit Force</li>
<li>Killzone Liberation</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>A selection of “On Us” rental movie titles will be available to PlayStation Network customers over one weekend, where Video Service is available. Those titles will be announced soon.</li>
<li>30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PlayStation Plus subscribers.</li>
<li>Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive an additional 60 days of free subscription.</li>
<li>Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription.</li>
<li>Additional 30 days + time lost for existing members of Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscription free of charge for existing Premium/Basic members.</li>
<li>To welcome users Home, PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag's Alien Casino, an exclusive game.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
Do you think this is enough from Sony for what has happened in the past three weeks?
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Sony details its "Welcome Back" program for PlayStation Network users

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<a href="http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/tag/cnoz">Cono Italiano Inc.</a> (CNOZ) is trading at a price of $0.0250, a dramatic change of +0.0050 with % change of 25.00% from its previous day's close. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 2.30M
<a href="http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/tag/mbyl">Mobile Data Corp</a> (MBYL) is trading at a price of $0.0700, a dramatic change of +0.0020 with % change of 2.94% from its previous day's close. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 2.17M
<a href="http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/tag/danr">Dana Resources </a>(DANR) is trading at a price of $0.0051, a dramatic change of +0.0001 with % change of 2.00% from its previous day's close. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 451,034.00
<a href="http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/tag/prm">PRIMEDIA Inc</a>. (PRM) is trading at a price of $4.38, a dramatic change of +0.01 with % change of 0.23% from its previous day's close. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 195.21M
HOP-ON INC (HPNN) is trading at a price of $0.0004, a dramatic change of +0.0003 with % change of 300.00% from its previous day's close. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 7,600.00
<a href="http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/tag/low">Lowe's Companies Inc.</a> (LOW) is trading at a price of $25.76, a dramatic change of -0.22 with % change of -0.85% from its previous day's close. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 33.96B.
<a href="http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/lowes.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-15733" title="lowes" src="http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/lowes.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="273" /></a>
<a href="http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/tag/brp">Brasil Telecom Participacoes SA </a>(BRP) is trading at a price of $10.15, a dramatic change of -0.10 with % change of -0.98% from its previous day's close. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 147.17M
PowerShares Listed Private Eq. (PSP) is trading at a price of $11.61, a dramatic change of -0.20 with % change of -1.69% from its previous day's close. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 471.37M
<a href="http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/tag/wnwg">Wentworth Energy Inc</a> (WNWG) is trading at a price of $0.0095, a dramatic change of +0.0042 with % change of 79.25% from its previous day's close. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 2.05M.
In another news, Cowen upgraded shares of Alkermes Inc. (ALKS) from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating. As some of Bank of America data were Compromised so customer's of Bank of America ( BAC) may receive new debit cards in the mail, as their personal information and account details may have been compromised.
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ALKS

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PSP: A Public Way To Play Private Equity

BSTZ: Private Equity Exposure Remains A Liability

Buyout Shops Take Risky Exit To Bypass Deal Crash

<a href="https://investorplace.com">InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice &amp; Trading Tips</a>
Bloomberg published an <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-11/nvidia-etf-that-delivers-double-gains-sees-record-flows-volume?srnd=undefined">article</a> on March 11 about the GraniteShares 2x Long NVDA Daily ETF (NASDAQ:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/nvdl-stock-quote/">NVDL</a>). Without further reading, I immediately thought this was one of the exchange traded funds (ETFs) to avoid as the S&amp;P 500 hits all-time highs. I&rsquo;ve got nothing against the good people at GraniteShares. I just don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a good idea for average investors to use leverage in its investments to achieve juiced-up returns.&nbsp;



The ETF provides investors with twice the daily return of NVDA. It&rsquo;s become very popular as Nvidia&rsquo;s (NASDAQ:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/nvda-stock-quote/">NVDA</a>) fortunes have risen from artificial intelligence (AI) related revenues. From March 4 to March 8, NVDL brought in $252 million in new money. According to Morningstar.com, it has <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/xnas/nvdl/quote">$1.9 billion</a> in net assets.&nbsp;



There are two other things I don&rsquo;t like about the ETF.&nbsp;



First, it charges <a href="https://graniteshares.com/institutional/us/en-us/etfs/nvdl/">1.15%</a>, or $115 per $10,000 invested. GraniteShares will argue that the cost of arranging swap agreements with financial institutions makes the cost of active management worth it. Fair enough. It pledges <a href="https://graniteshares.com/media/wumenn4z/graniteshares-etf-trust-nvdl-summary-prospectus-pdf.pdf">35 to 45%</a> of its net assets as collateral to obtain the swaps. You&rsquo;ll want to read the prospectus before buying. There are risks involved beyond the typical actively managed ETF.&nbsp;



Secondly, single-stock ETFs have only been around since the summer of 2022. There hasn&rsquo;t been enough time to study whether they do what they should. I&rsquo;d avoid them.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Here are three other ETFs to avoid.



<h2>iShares Virtual Work and Life Multisector ETF (IWFH)</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/work_from_home_1600-300x169.jpg" alt="A photo of woman working on a computer at a desk in her home. work-from-home stocks"><div>Source: Vera Petrunina/ShutterStock.com</div></div>iShares Virtual Work and Life Multisector ETF (NYSEARCA:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/iwfh-stock-quote/">IWFH</a>) was launched at the height of the pandemic in <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/315979/ishares-virtual-work-and-life-multisector-etf/">September 2020</a>. In 42 months it&rsquo;s gathered just $3 million in net assets. That&rsquo;s just one of the reasons I put it on the list of ETFs to avoid.



As the ETF&rsquo;s name suggests, it invests in companies helping keep remote work alive and well. It tracks the performance of the NYSE FactSet Global Virtual Work and Life Index, a collection of U.S. and non-U.S. companies exposed to the &ldquo;full value chain of virtual and remote entertainment, wellness and learning industries,&rdquo; its website states.&nbsp;



IWFH is expensive for a passive ETF, at 0.47%, or $47 per $10,000 invested. In August 2023, I <a href="https://investorplace.com/2023/08/3-low-cost-actively-managed-etfs-to-buy-now/">recommended</a> the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/jepi-stock-quote/">JEPI</a>), an actively managed ETF that charges only 0.35%, 12 basis points less than IWFH. At the time, JEPI had $28.7 billion in net assets. Today, it has <a href="https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/products/jpmorgan-equity-premium-income-etf-etf-shares-46641q332">$33 billion</a>. Over the past year, performance-wise, it&rsquo;s tied with IWFH. JEPI is intended to be a low-risk fund. IWFH should be beating it by a lot more.&nbsp;



Secondly, the communication and technology sectors account for nearly 70% of its net assets. It&rsquo;s essentially a tech fund. You could buy State Street&rsquo;s (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/stt-stock-quote/">STT</a>) communication and technology ETFs instead at <a href="https://www.sectorspdrs.com/mainfund/xlc">0.09%</a>, 26 basis points less, with both outperforming IWFH by five-fold.&nbsp;



<h2>SPDR S&amp;P Regional Banking ETF (KRE)</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/banks1600-300x169.jpg" alt="Image of a grey cityscape with a large corporate building that features the word bank on it"><div>Source: Shutterstock</div></div>The contrarian in me says the SPDR S&amp;P Regional Banking ETF (NYSEARCA:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/kre-stock-quote/">KRE</a>) is an opportunity to bet on the down-and-out U.S. regional banking industry without losing your shirt.



Down 9.8% in 2024 and 3.9% over the past five years, it&rsquo;s most certainly underperformed relative to its stablemate, the SPDR S&amp;P Bank ETF (<a href="KBE">NYSEARCA:KBE</a>). KBE has a regional bank weighting of <a href="https://www.ssga.com/us/en/individual/etfs/funds/spdr-sp-bank-etf-kbe">60.35%</a>, but still has managed to deliver a 5-year return of 10.35%, 13.47 percentage points better than KRE.&nbsp;



As <a href="https://investorplace.com/2024/03/stop-3-reasons-why-you-should-never-ever-buy-bank-stocks/">I recently discussed</a>, <a href="https://investorplace.com/industries/financial/bank/">bank stocks</a> are a tricky breed. They&rsquo;re not like <a href="https://investorplace.com/industries/consumer-discretionary/">consumer discretionary stocks</a>, where it&rsquo;s much easier to determine a business&rsquo;s future success. As we&rsquo;ve seen with New York Community Bank (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/nycb-stock-quote/">NYCB</a>), there are many moving parts, making it much tougher to delineate between a quality bank and a bank about to fail like SVB Financial.



Now, if you must dabble in regional bank stocks, do it through KBE or KRE, where diversification will help you.



<h2>ProShares Global Listed Private Equity ETF (PEX)&nbsp;</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/bdc1600-300x169.png" alt="Business Development Company BDC concept is shown by businessman."><div>Source: wsf-s / Shutterstock.com</div></div>I have recommended <a href="https://investorplace.com/2019/08/7-ways-to-play-private-equity-without-being-a-billionaire/">private equity-focused ETFs</a> in the past. I wish I hadn&rsquo;t. Here are three reasons why.&nbsp;



First, the fees are high, especially when you consider the sub-par performance. ProShares Global Listed Private Equity ETF (BATS:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/pex-stock-quote/">PEX</a>) has existed since 2013 and charges 2.79%. Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/psp-stock-quote/">PSP</a>) launched in 2006. It managed to gather $225 million because it charged a more reasonable 1.06%.



Secondly, both ETFs invest in many Business Development Companies (BDCs). Securities regulations require them to return at least <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bdc.asp">90%</a> of their taxable income to shareholders. That&rsquo;s great for income as they tend to invest in senior debt of middle-market companies rather than equity. But it doesn&rsquo;t deliver the level of equity exposure private equity is known for.&nbsp;



Lastly, performance has been sub-par, as I mentioned previously. Over the past five years, PEX is down 12%. PSP is up 12.4% and the S&amp;P 500 gained 84.29% over the same period. KKR &amp; Co (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/kkr-stock-quote/">KKR</a>) and Blackstone (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/bx-stock-quote/">BX</a>), two of the major holdings of PSP, are up 304.7% and 263.8%, respectively.&nbsp;



If you&rsquo;re going to invest in private equity, go direct.&nbsp;Otherwise, consider them on the list of ETFs to avoid.



On the date of publication, Will Ashworth did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com<a href="https://investorplace.com/corporate/investorplace-publishing-guidelines/"> Publishing Guidelines</a>.
<div>Will Ashworth has written about investments full-time since 2008. Publications where he&rsquo;s appeared include InvestorPlace, The Motley Fool Canada, Investopedia, Kiplinger, and several others in both the U.S. and Canada. He particularly enjoys creating model portfolios that stand the test of time. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.</div><h3>More From InvestorPlace</h3>
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The post <a href="https://investorplace.com/2024/03/3-etfs-to-avoid-as-the-sp-500-hit-an-all-time-highs/">3 ETFs to Avoid as the S&amp;P 500 Hit an All-Time Highs</a> appeared first on <a href="https://investorplace.com">InvestorPlace</a>.