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WisdomTree’s Shrinking ETF Portfolio (WSDT, DBT, DRF, DBR, DPN, DPC, DDI, DGG, DEB, EEZ, USY)

247wallst — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:04:32 +0000

WisdomTree (Pink Sheets: WSDT) has become fairly well-known in the world of exchange traded funds. But today is a sad day for ETF traders, and is just further evidence that there are some solid ETF strategies mixed with some really bad ETF strategies out there. WisdomTree is shutting down 10 ETFs. These will not destroy the company because it is said to be in the press release only 3% of the WisdomTree assets. That does not keep this from being an added question mark, nor will it exactly be good PR for the next ETF that the firm wants to launch.
The closures are as follows:
WisdomTree International Technology Sector Fund (NYSE: DBT)
WisdomTree International Financial Sector Fund (NYSE: DRF)
WisdomTree International Health Care Sector Fund (NYSE: DBR)
WisdomTree International Consumer Staples Sector Fund (NYSE: DPN)
WisdomTree International Consumer Discretionary Sector Fund (NYSE: DPC)
WisdomTree International Industrial Sector Fund (NYSE: DDI)
WisdomTree International Communications Sector Fund (NYSE: DGG)
WisdomTree Europe Total Dividend Fund (NYSE: DEB)
WisdomTree Earnings Top 100 Fund (NYSE: EEZ)
WisdomTree U.S. Short Term Government Income Fund (NYSE: USY)

While the company said it has no other closures planned, this only highlights the notion that the more esoteric and the more illiquid an ETF is that it risks having the same half-life equal to marriages of movie stars. Approximately $6.7 billion in assets are managed by WisdomTree or are managed against WisdomTree Indexes by third parties under license from WisdomTree.

We traditionally look as the yardstick of success being the total shares per day being 50,000 shares. Some of these ETFs being closed have an average daily volume of under 10,000 shares.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: ADR, Emerging Markets, ETF, Mutual Funds Tagged: DBR, DBT, DDI, DEB, DGG, DPC, DPN, DRF, EEZ, USY, WSDT

WisdomTree Launches Emerging Currency ETF (CEW, WSDT)

247wallst — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:00:03 +0000

There was a new ETF launch today on the NYSE Euronext. The WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency Fund (NYSE: CEW) marks the 50th ETF listed by WisdomTree on NYSE Arca. The “CEW” fund will seek to provide investors exposure to both money market rates and currency exchange rates across 11 emerging market countries.

The market constituent currencies at launch are listed as follows:

Mexican Peso,
Brazilian Real,
Chilean Peso,
South African Rand,
Polish Zloty,
Israeli Shekel,
Turkish New Lira,
Chinese Yuan,
South Korean Won,
Taiwanese Dollar,
and Indian Rupee.

Trading volume was thin on this issue at 15,000 shares right before the close. Its launch price was $20.00.

WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (OTC: WSDT)

Jon C. Ogg

Posted in Emerging Markets, ETF, IPOs Tagged: CEW, WSDT

Companies Not On SEC Short Sale Ban, But Should Be

247wallst — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:07:21 +0000

Frankly, we think the ban on short sales is not the right way to run a free market. But it doesn’t matter what we think. These are the new rules, but they do not always make sense. Consider the stocks listed below that have many of the same issues as the financial companies but did not make the SEC’s list.

American Capital, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACAS)
American Express (NYSE: AXP)
Capital One (NYSE: COF)
CIT Group (NYSE: CIT)
First Marblehead Corp. (NYSE: FMD)
General Electric (NYSE: GE)
General Motors (NYSE: GM)
HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC)
thinkorswim Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIM)
VeriFone Holdings (NYSE: PAY)
WisdomTree Investments (OTC-WSDT)

There are many others that could be included. We refrained from going into detail for the case on each of these, but if you see the companies are tied into the financial markets it should be fairly evident why they were named. There are also some on this list which didn’t look likefinancial firms whose stocks were down because of targeted shortselling. That’s what makes a horse race. The SEC has referred to such companies as an "Included Financial Firm", and you can see the full list of them herefrom the SEC.

It is possible that some of these companies have already been added to the list. We just haven’t seen them.

Jon C. Ogg
September 19, 2008

Posted in Regulation, Short Interest Tagged: ACAS, AXP, CIT, COF, FMD, GE, GM, HBC, PAY, SWIM, WSDT

Middle East ETF Launch: WisdomTree Middle East Dividend Fund (GULF, WSDT)

247wallst — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:53:22 +0000

We have seen the launch today on the NASDAQ of the WisdomTree Middle East Dividend Fund
(NASDAQ: GULF). WisdomTree (PinkSheets: WSDT) is the manager of the index and the ETF.

The WisdomTree Middle East Dividend Fund is based on the WisdomTree Middle East Dividend Index. This "GULF" ETF provides investors with exposure to approximately 70 dividend paying companies listed in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Our other emerging and developing market coverage on Africa and the Middle East is as follows:
Jim Cramer Gives Middle East Infrastructure Picks
Africa ETF Launched: Market Vectors-Africa Index ETF
Africa: The Final Emerging Market Frontier
Big IPO: Safaricom in Kenya

As of today’s information, this ETF has only $2.493 million in assetsat the date of the launch and 100,000 shares outstanding. If the ETFdoes well and liquidity is present, we’d expect that number to rise onboth counts.

The WisdomTree Middle East Dividend Index is a fundamentally weightedindex measuring the performance of companies in the Middle East regionthat pay regular cash dividends on shares of common stock and that meetspecified requirements. Companies eligible for inclusion in the Indexmust be incorporated in and have their shares listed on a major stockexchange in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar or theUAE. Shares of component companies must also be eligible to bepurchased by foreign investors. The Index is dividend weighted andupdated every 15 seconds between 9:30 AM EST and 4:00 PM EST to reflectmarket prices and exchange rates. Closing or last-sale prices are usedwhen non-U.S. markets are closed. The current individual countrybreakdown may change through time but is listed as follows:

Kuwait 24.87%
U.A.E. 19.92%
Qatar 15.63%
Egypt 11.93%
Morocco 9.55%
Jordan 6.72%
Oman 6.09%
Bahrain 5.29%

The Index had a base value of 200.0 as of June 30, 2008.

Jon C. Ogg
July 16, 2008

WisdomTree Launching Currency Income ETF’s (WSDT, CYB, ICN, BZF, JYF, EU)

247wallst — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:51:18 +0000

WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (Pink Sheets: WSDT) and The Dreyfus Corporation, a BNY Mellon Asset Management Company, announced the launch of five WisdomTree Dreyfus Currency Income ETFs on the NYSE Arca.

The ETFs are actively-managed and designed to earn current income that reflects money market rates that are available to foreign investors in the specific region. Additionally, they will be exposed to changes in non-U.S. currencies values compared to the U.S. dollar. Being actively-managed, the ETFs will have greater flexibility but still maintain the transparency that makes ETFs so attractive. This fund targets short-term, investment grade instruments and as a result, the share price is expected to be volatile.

The funds are expected to commence trading on Tuesday, May 13, 2008. The ETFs are listed below:

WisdomTree Dreyfus Chinese Yuan Fund (NYSE Arca: CYB)
WisdomTree Dreyfus Indian Rupee Fund (NYSE Arca: ICN
WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real Fund (NYSE Arca: BZF)
WisdomTree Dreyfus Japanese Yen Fund (NYSE Arca: JYF)
WisdomTree Dreyfus Euro Fund (NYSE Arca: EU)

Rachel Lopez
May 1, 2008

New ETF To Track India (WSDT, IIF, IFN, INP, EPI)

247wallst — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:55:22 +0000

WisdomTree Investments (WSDT-OTC) made a fairly significant announcement yesterday for those who trade ETF’s. The ETF manager is going to launch an ETF in the latter part of February that tracks the Indian stock market, one of the larger emerging markets that is not exactly the easiest for Americans and non-Indians to invest in.

This will have the proposed tick of "EPI" on the NYSE. What is most interesting is that it is said to be an "earnings weighted ETF" and it will offer pure exposure to local Indian securities rather than just the US-listed ADR securities. This will also be more of an open-ended fund so that its assets will actually fluctuate more in-line with the underlying securities as opposed to swinging at wider premiums or discounts to the net asset values that closed-end funds and some ETF’s encounter.

EPI will select from a broad universe of approximately 150 profitable companies included in the WisdomTree India Earnings Index on the annual index screening date. EPI will be listed on the NYSE Arca. You can access the full release here.

The current major ETF that traders use is the iPath MSCI India Index ETN (NYSE: INP) or traders go to the closed end fund called the India Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IFN) or the Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IIF).

This may offer investors a chance to invest in a broader basket of Indian shares without the added volatility that can be caused from the premium and discount to net asset values. Now we just have to wait about 5 or 6 weeks to see how well it works and how active the trading is.

Jon C. Ogg
January 24, 2008

New Emerging Markets ETF (DGS, WSDT)

247wallst — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:22:53 +0000

There is a new ETF trading on the NYSE today. The WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Fund listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol DGS, and it has begun trading.

This ETF was created to track the price and yield performance of the "WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Index." This index is a fundamentally weighted index primarily measuring the performance of small cap stocks.

If you’d like to see the top components you can find that here on the WisdomTree site. According to that site and performance results, it appears that this index is up some 63% over the last year.

WisdomTree Investments Inc. is also public and trades under the OTC/PinkSheets ticker "WDST."

Jon C. Ogg
October 30, 2007