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ETF Launch: Credit SPDR From State Street (ITR, STT)

Administrator — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:14:26 +0000

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is launching a new ETF to track the credit markets. Its State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) investment management arm launched the SPDR Barclays Capital Intermediate Term Credit Bond ETF (NYSE: ITR). This ETF will give access to investment grade credit bonds and was designed to track the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital Intermediate Credit Index. The target index includes investment grade corporate and non-corporate credit bonds denominated in US Dollars. These also have a maturity range of 1 year to 10 years. As of December 31, 2008, the index included 2,512 issues, an average credit rating of “A” and an average maturity of 5.2 years; and its annual expense ratio is 0.15%.

Jon C. Ogg
February 11, 2009

Posted in Bonds, ETF Tagged: bond etf, Bonds, credit spreads, ETF, ITG

ETF LAUNCH: China Small Cap From Claymore/AlphaShares (HAO)

247wallst — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:42:57 +0000

The American Stock Exchange launched trading yesterday in a new exchange traded fund that tracks small cap stocks in China. It launched the Claymore/AlphaShares China Small Cap Index ETF (Amex: HAO) by Claymore Securities, Inc.

This ETF (HAO) aims to track the performance of the AlphaShares China Small Cap Index, which was designed to track the performance of publicly-traded small cap stocks in mainland China.

According to the launch site, this ETF launched with only 200,000 shares outstanding and it traded 2,800 shares yesterday. It was also listed as having a 5.32% Bid/Ask premium and has 120 securities in the AlphaShares China Small Cap Index (ACNSC).

This ETF actually is fairly distributed after looking at the holdingsversus the weighting of each. Many ETF’s tracking specific markets andsectors have a few components making up a large percentage of theentire group. Of the top 20 holdings below, this only comprises about37% of the entire ETF.

Below is a snapshot of the top 20 holdings, although you can see the full list here.
BEIJING ENTERPRISES HOLDINGS 2.97 %
CHAODA MODERN AGRICULTURE    2.95 %
SINOFERT HOLDINGS LTD                   2.45 %
WUXI PHARMATECH INC – ADR          1.92 %
SHANGHAI JIN JIANG INT’L                   1.89 %
CHINA SHIPPING CONTAINER             1.89 %
NETEASE.COM INC-ADR                      1.88 %
SOHU.COM INC                                        1.84 %
CHINA COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 1.82 %
PORTS DESIGN LTD                               1.74 %
CNPC HONG KONG LTD                         1.74 %
JIANGSU EXPRESSWAY CO LTD          1.72 %
TSINGTAO BREWERY CO LTD             1.72 %
DONGFANG ELECTRIC CORP LTD    1.67 %
GUANGDONG INVESTMENT LTD       1.67 %
CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES CORP 1.62 %
SINOPEC SHANGHAI PETROCHEMICAL 1.62 %
CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES CO             1.46 %
MAANSHAN IRON & STEEL                   1.45 %
KWG PROPERTY HOLDING                   1.44 %

Jon C. Ogg
January 31, 2008

ETF LAUNCH: iShares Emerging Market Bond Exchange (EMB)

247wallst — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:17:26 +0000

Today marked the debut of the iShares to track an emerging market bond index.

The iShares Emerging Market Bond Exchange Traded Fund ETF (NYSE:EMB) that listed and began trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol "EMB." This ETF tracks the performance of the EMB which measures JPMorgan EMBI Global Core Index.

This ETF traded 47,900 shares on its debut trading session.

Jon C. Ogg
December 19, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he produces the SPECIAL SITUATION newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

ETF LAUNCH: Claymore/AlphaShares China Real Estate ETF (TAO)

247wallst — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:35:46 +0000

The NYSE today launched the Claymore/AlphaShares China Real Estate ETF on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol “TAO”. This is the first of its kind as an ETF that is set up to track the performance of the AlphaShares China Real Estate Index.

The index is designed to measure and monitor the performance of the investable universe of publicly-traded companies and real estate investment trusts deriving a majority of their revenues from the development, management and/or ownership of property in China or the Special Administrative Regions of China (Hong Kong and Macau).

You can see a full list of holdings on the Claymore site here.

Jon C. Ogg
December 18, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he produces the SPECIAL SITUATION newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

ETF Launch: Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF (EDV)

247wallst — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:11:56 +0000

The American Stock Exchange has launched trading in the Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF (Amex: EDV).

The "EDV" ETF is designed to track the performance of the Lehman Brothers Treasury STRIPS 20-30 Year Equal Par Bond Index which includes zero-coupon U.S. Treasury securities (Treasury STRIPS) with maturities ranging from 20 to 30 years.

As noted, a Treasury STRIP represents a single coupon payment, or a single principal payment, from a U.S. Treasury security that has been “stripped” into separately tradedcomponents. What is interesting here is how this will account for the accumulated interest.

Vanguard now offers investors 34 ETFs, all of which are listed on the AMEX. Hopefully Mr. Bogle won’t pan his own ETF’s like he has in general.

Jon C. Ogg
December 10, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

International Bond ETF Launch (BWX)

247wallst — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:15:44 +0000

The American Stock Exchange has launched trading in the SPDR Lehman International Treasury Bond ETF (AMEX:BWX) by State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT).

BWX seeks to replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of its benchmark index, the Lehman Brothers Global Treasury Ex-U.S. Capped Index. The Index tracks fixed-rate local currency sovereign debt of investment-grade countries outside the U.S.

As of August 31, 2007, there were 674 issues from 18 countries denominated in 11 currencies included in the Index. The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in fixed-income securities that comprise its benchmark Index.

Jon C. Ogg
October 4, 2007

NYSE Launches New Target Date ETF’s (TDD, TDH, TDN, TDV, TDX)

247wallst — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 07:08:58 +0000

NYSE Euronext started trading five multi-asset class and multi-target date ETF’s referred to as TDAX Independence ETFs on NYSE Arca. These ETF’s are designed to track the performance of the Zacks Lifecycle Indexes to draw exposure from three broad asset classes:

international equities,
domestic equities,
and fixed income.

These ETFs will be reconstituted and rebalanced annually, or quarterly when necessary, based on the Zacks methodology. Here are the ETF’s:

TDAX Independence 2010 ETF (NYSE:TDD)
TDAX Independence 2020 ETF (NYSE:TDH)
TDAX Independence 2030 ETF (NYSE:TDN)
TDAX Independence 2040 ETF (NYSE:TDV)
TDAX Independence In-Target ETF (NYSE:TDX)

Jon C. Ogg
October 2, 2007

INVESCO PowerShares Launched Five New Foreign ETF’s (PDQ, PDN, PXH, PWD, PFP, IVZ)

247wallst — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:46:55 +0000

There were five new ETF’s that hit the American Stock Exchange, which now counts 342 listed ETF’s at the exchange.

PowerShares FTSE RAFI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Small-Mid Portfolio (Amex: PDQ) aims to track the price and yield performance of the FTSE RAFI Developed Asia Pacific ex Japan Mid Small Index which is comprised of Asia Pacific small and medium capitalization companies with the largest fundamental value, selected from the constituents of the FTSE Developed Asia Pacific ex Japan All Cap Index.
PowerShares FTSE RAFI Developed Markets ex-U.S. Small-Mid Portfolio (Amex: PDN) aims to track the FTSE RAFI Developed ex US Mid Small 1500 Index which is comprised of small and medium capitalization companies with the largest fundamental value, selected from the constituents of FTSE Developed ex US All Cap Index.
PowerShares FTSE RAFI Emerging Markets Portfolio (Amex: PXH) aims to track the FTSE RAFI Emerging Index which is comprised of the emerging market companies with the largest fundamental value, selected from the constituents of the FTSE Emerging Large/Mid Cap Index.
PowerShares FTSE RAFI Europe Small-Mid Portfolio (Amex: PWD) aims to track the FTSE RAFI Developed Europe Mid Small Index which is comprised of the European small and medium capitalization companies with the largest fundamental value, selected from the constituents of the FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index.
PowerShares International Listed Private Equity Portfolio (Amex: PFP) aims to track the International Listed Private Equity IndexSM which is composed of a diversified mix of listed private equity companies selected based on the following criteria: valuation metrics, financial data, historical performance, market capitalization and the need for diversification within the portfolio.

Some of the esoteric ETF’s tend to not see much trading volume, but these specific and focused ETF’s that track recognizable baskets serve great purposes. The PowerShares are part of INVESCO PLC (NYSE:IVZ), which listed $492 Billion under management as of August 31, 2007.

Jon C. Ogg
September 28, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and does not own securities in the companies he covers.

National Municipal Bond ETF Launch (MUB)

247wallst — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:53:09 +0000

Today marks the launch of iShares S&P National Municipal Bond Fund (Amex: MUB) by Barclays Global Investors. MUB aims to track the municipal bond sector of the United States as defined by the S&P National Municipal Bond Index.

The Index includes municipal bonds from issuers that are primarily state or local governments or agencies, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. The interest on each underlying bond is exempt from U.S. federal income taxes and the federal alternative minimum tax as determined by the Index Provider in accordance with its methodology.

Susquehanna will act as the specialist for this ETF on the American Stock Exchange.

Jon C. Ogg
September 10, 2007

ETF Launched: Market Vectors-Agribusiness ETF (MOO)

247wallst — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:26:20 +0000

The American Stock Exchange confirmed that Van Eck Global has launched its fifth ETF on Amex today. Its name is the Market Vectors-Agribusiness ETF (Amex:MOO), and this one tracks a global group of 40 company stocks that are in Agribusiness. More specifically, this is tied to soft commodity and bioenergy companies and every aspect around them: manufacturing, processing, refining, transporting, distributing, marketing, trading, packaging, and storing of agriproducts.

From now on, we’ll refer to it as "The Moo," and The Moo is set to track the price and yield performance of the DAXglobal® Agribusiness Index, which is comprised of common stocks and depository receipts that are listed for trading on major stock exchanges around the world and involved in the business of agriculture. The Moo components include companies engaged in agriproduct operations, agricultural chemicals, livestock operations, agricultural equipment, and ethanol/biodiesel, and which predominantly derive at least 50% of their total revenues from such activities.

We openly endorse ETF’s, but we like to look for ETF’s with volume. Today was day one, but it only traded 6,500 shares on the day. Generally speaking, these international or global basket ETF’s tend to be more liquid based on how focused they are. This one is focused on a fairly apples to apples basket in company operations and 52% of the index weighting is US-based companies, but it is diversified from a country standpoint for the other 48% and there are few investors in the US where The Moo trades that invest in DAX Indices.

Here is the full data on the DAXglobal® Agribusiness Index, including the 40 components. Here is an abbreviated list of the 40 companies and the countries (pardon abberviations): ABB Grain Ltd. (Australia), AGCO Corp. (US), Agrium (Canada), The Andersons (US), Archer Daniels Midland (US), Assoc. British Foods (UK), Aventine (US), AWB Ltd. (Australia), Bunge (US), CH Ind. (US), China Agri-Business (HK), CNH Global NV (NE), Corn Products (US), Cresud SA (ARG.), Darling Int’l. (US), Deere (US), Gehl Co. (US), Gruma SAB (MEX), IOI Corp. (Malaysia), Komatsu (Japan), Lindsay (US), MGP Ingredients (US), Monsanto (US), Mosaic Co. (US), OLAM INT’L (Singapore), Pacific Ethanol (US), Pilgrim’s Pride (US), Pine Agritech (China), Potash (Canada), Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (Canada), Smithfield Foods (US), Syngenta AG (Switzerland), Terra Ind. (US), Tiger Brands (South Africa), Tractor Supply (US), Tyson Foods (US), UAP Holdings (US), Verasun Energy (US), Wilmar Int’l (Singapore), Yara Int’l (Norway).

Jon C. Ogg
September 5, 2007