Exchange Traded Funds
The choice between Vanguard Total World Stock (NYSEARCA:VT) and Vanguard Total Stock Market (NYSEARCA:VTI) looks like a choice between two flavors of Vanguard indexing. It is really a bet on whether U.S. exceptionalism has…
Preferred stocks are one corner of the market where most retail investors are better served by an ETF than by buying individual securities directly. Convenience is part of the reason, but the more important…
Investors who pay close attention to the bond market generally monitor two interest rate benchmarks above all else. The first is the federal funds rate, which influences short-term borrowing costs throughout the economy. The…
If you want plain vanilla S&P 500 exposure, two funds dominate the shortlist: SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPLG) and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:VOO). They hold the same 500 companies in the same…
Among the many investing communities on Reddit, one that rarely gets the same attention as r/WallStreetBets is r/ThetaGang. The name comes from theta, the options Greek that measures time decay. Rather than buying speculative…
The cost of insuring against natural disasters has climbed sharply over the past decade. More people are living in coastal regions, wildfire-prone communities, and other high-risk areas, so when disasters strike, there is simply…
Master limited partnerships (MLPs) have long been favorites among income investors thanks to their pass-through structure and typically generous cash distributions. Many also own energy infrastructure assets such as pipelines, storage terminals, and processing…
It’s quoted all the time, but I can’t stand adjusted EBITDA: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, with management often adding back an even longer list of “one-time” expenses. The problem is that…
Bitcoin itself doesn’t generate any income. Yet a growing number of Bitcoin-linked ETFs distribute sizable amounts of cash to shareholders. The oldest and perhaps best-known example is the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO). Launched…
The U.S. economy has proven remarkably resilient over the past two decades. Sure, COVID briefly punished the economy, but the downturn was short-lived after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to near zero and…
History says it is coming. A 30% drawdown is part of the contract you signed when you bought stocks. What matters is whether you will still be holding the bag when prices recover. Three…
If you own Neos S&P 500 High Income ETF (CBOE:SPYI) for the fat monthly checks, the mailbox math looks great. The opportunity cost is where the fund gets quiet. Over the past year, SPYI…
SPY is the ticker every trader knows and the fund most retail investors default to when they want “the S&P 500.” That default has a price. Two nearly identical ETFs charge a fraction of…
The current state of global economics since the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement operates on certain presumptions regarding gold, oil, interest rates, the perceived strength of the US dollar, and the geopolitical landscape. In…
VYMI's payouts have climbed steadily, but international dividends come loaded with currency swings, European bank cycles, and Chinese policy risk that domestic income funds simply do not carry. Whether that yield holds up depends…
