Colin Peterson submits: We need to figure out the inflation vs deflation debate. A few months ago, I decided that short term we would have deflation. I had bought long duration treasury (TLT) calls. Treasury yields have been crushed. I wish I had bought more. (The calls increased in value tenfold.)

Mike Havrilla submits:Healthcare investing trends in 2009 and beyond will be affected by the new administration's plans for healthcare reform, which are summarized at the Change.gov website. A key feature of the plan is making health insurance coverage possible for all Americans using the existing network of insurers and providers. The plan relies on tax credits for small businesses and eligible individuals to help pay the cost of health insurance premiums. Also, large employers which do not offer health insurance benefits would be required to contribute a percentage of their payroll toward the cost of healthcare for their employees.

Mike Havrilla submits:The accompanying table (click to enlarge) includes the 10 largest companies in the ETF Innovators ((ETFI)) Nation Cap Leaders Index, which includes 51 companies with the largest market cap that is at least $5B U.S. dollars, from a variety of countries. Exxon Mobil (XOM) has pulled away from the pack as the largest company by market cap in the world now that PetroChina (PTR) has declined by 45.7% in the past year on falling oil prices and the sell-off in emerging stock markets such as China.

Mike Havrilla submits:The accompanying table [(click to enlarge) includes a 1-year analysis for near-month CME Random Length Lumber Futures ((LB)), Claymore/Clear Global Timber ETF (CUT), iShares S&P Global Timber & Forestry ETF (WOOD), and the S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

IndexUniverse submits: By Matthew HouganI'm glad Jim Wiandt has seen the light.Complete Story »

IndexUniverse submits: By Matthew HouganI'm glad Jim Wiandt has seen the light.Complete Story »

Jason Neault submits:By Jason Neault As we predicted, the Direxion 3X bull and bear ETFs have been a huge success, and are now awash in volume daily. Traders love the big daily moves in these funds with the market’s current volatility. Wednesdasy was the launch of six more 3X funds from Direxion, with bull and bear MSCI EAFE, Emerging Markets, and Technology shares. Here is a rundown of the new 3X funds that Direxion has added to their lineup:

Richard Kang submits: Sometime in early June 2006, I took up an offer by David Jackson at Seeking Alpha to write down some of my ideas on the use of ETFs and publish them on his site. Truly, it was easy to think of topics and start typing away as my life at that time involved managing portfolios consisting predominately of indexed instruments (and a bit of DFA funds but they don’t want to be called index funds). At times, I stepped away from discussions on just ETFs and entered the areas of hedge funds, alpha-beta separation, general risk management as applied to the process of portfolio construction and even some forecasts/outlooks although I never felt very good about going in that last direction.

David Fry (ETF Digest) submits: Bulls seemed very confident and their clamor, “the bottom’s in,” has been hard to miss or avoid. But, like our penguin friend above, bears tripped bulls up today and yesterday. While we may still rally some into the end of the year, it seems more likely we just slosh around.

David Fry (ETF Digest) submits: << Return to page 1 - Quad Witching

Trader Mark submits:Well if this mutual fund thing doesn't work out, perhaps a swing trading newsletter will be the future.Yesterday's purchase of Ultrashort Real Estate (SRS) in the mid $53s [Bookkeeping: Wish Me Luck], is now up 25% in 24 hours. I think we actually got the exact bottom but man, it's a hard way to make a buck (ulcer city). I'm going to take a bit off this position which has grown from 3.5%ish to 4.3%ish of portfolio in a day. It is one crazy animal and unless the market is in free fall, it is hard to feel any confidence. I still love it as a hedge but until the retail bankruptcies start hitting the headlines people will apparently whistle past the REIT graveyard.

Hard Assets Investor submits: By Brad ZiglerDespite the economic slowdown, there are still some growth businesses. Take manufacturing, for instance. No, not auto or widget making. I'm talking about the manufacturing of exchange-traded portfolios.Complete Story »

Tom Lydon (ETF Trends) submits: The recent recession may have something special going for the retail-focused stocks and ETFs that focus on bargain-based retail.

Dividends4Life submits:

Carl T. Delfeld submits: The Thai economy and the Thai Fund (TF) and iShares Thailand ETF (THD) have all been buffeted by political turmoil and outright chaos. In only four months there have been three prime ministers. In comparison, Japan's politics looks like a calm ocean of stability. Tim Johnston writes from Bangkok for the Financial Times that Abhisit Vejjajiva became Thailand’s third prime minister in four months Wednesday.

3X Developed and Emerging International, U.S. Tech Fresh off a Wall Street Journal piece suggesting many of the end-of-day spikes in equity trading of late have been a direct result of the rapid growth in leveraged ETFs, Direxion launched its follow-up batch of 3X ETFs Wednesday, the first of their kind respectively. The new funds offer investors triple exposure to two MSCI indexes covering Developed ex-U.S. ((EAFE)) Markets and Emerging Markets, as well as the Russell 1000 Technology Index.

Carl T. Delfeld submits: Two weeks ago, Wolfgang Muchau of the Financial Times forecast that the German economy would contract between 2 and 4% in 2009. What looked to some like an offbeat forecast has now become conservative. Last week, two of Germany’s large economic institutes forecast a decline in growth for 2009 of 2 and 2.2%, respectively. Norbert Walter, chief economist of Deutsche Bank (DB), said a contraction of 4% in 2009 was possible. Some believe the contraction will continue well into 2010.

Tim Iacono submits: Inventory at the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEArca:GLD) just hit a new all-time high yesterday afternoon, the number of tonnes in the trust reaching 775.33.[click to enlarge]

Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit:
Leveraged ETFs have seemingly taken over the exchange traded fund asset class in recent months, and below we highlight the best and worst performers since the November 20th market low. As shown, the double long real estate ETF is up the most since 11/20 with a gain of 97% (URE)! The triple long financial ETF (FAS) ranks 2nd with a gain of 86%, followed by 2x basic materials (UYM), 3x smallcaps (TNA), and 2x financials (UYG). On the downside, the triple short financials ETF (FAZ) and the double short real estate ETF (SRS) are both down about the same at -79%. Double short China (FXP) is down the third most at -66%, followed closely by the double short Rydex financial ETF (RFN) at -64.9%.

Jonathan O'Shaughnessy submits:The iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI), which tracks a basket of Chinese companies, has recently broken out of a consolidation pattern and appears to be headed higher over the coming days/weeks. The Chinese market has been a relative outperformer compared to US markets holding its October lows even as the S&P fell to new depths back in November. Going back to the short term high made on November 4th, the FXI has repeatedly made an assault on the $28 level. However, after each failed attempt, a higher low was made forming a bullish pennant. On December 8th, it broke through the resistance at 28 on heavy volume which supports a continuation higher. You’ll also notice that the recent run from the $22 level has seen increasing volume which is also bullish (click on chart to enlarge).