Editor’s Note: The following is a roundup of what others are writing about exchange-traded funds, index mutual funds and indexes. This column is updated throughout the day by IndexUniverse.com’s staff. Suggestions are welcome by sending comments or links to: <!–
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Mutual Funds Trading ETFs Late?

Besides writing for MarketWatch’s general Web site, John Spence also has a related blog. He’s just put up a look at what all of this surge in ETF trading volume might mean. 

He writes: “Industry insiders say mutual-fund managers may be using ETFs at the end of the trading day to handle volatile inflows and outflows.”

For more, you can check the full blog here.

Oh Canada!

The Canadian exchange-traded funds market now accounts for 10% of trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, according to the Financial Post, which has an article on Tuesday detailing the rapid rise in ETF use by Canadian investors.

While that 10% of equities trading may seem small in comparison to the 38% level that U.S. ETFs reached last month, the Canadian ETF market has grown significantly. The article has a good breakdown of asset flows into ETFs versus mutual funds in Canada—which looks much like the recent divergent paths taken by ETFs and mutual funds in the U.S.

You can read the article here. 

Look Who’s Talkin’

You’ve heard it all before. But for the uninitiated, we’re providing a link to our own Matt Hougan, who was grilled by reporter Trang Ho for this Q&A appearing in Investor’s Business Daily on Tuesday.

Hougan comes through, providing what IU.com readers have become accustomed to—unblinking analysis and fiercely independent commentary on everything relating to ETFs.

You can see the story here.

The Obama Portfolio

Don’t worry, it didn’t take this long for someone to propose a portfolio based on the election of Barack Obama.

Already in the past two weeks, dozens of articles have implored investors to take advantage of the election of a new president. This one’s a bit dated, first appearing on Kiplinger.com four days ago. But it rises to the top of the pack as writer Laura Cohn takes a rather level-headed look at a so-called “Obama Portfolio.”

It starts with a warning that history isn’t on the side of those betting on such trends. But conceding a new administration will bring heightened speculation, Cohn takes an educated stab. And even though she mainly talks stocks, the article does include ETF alternatives for fund investors who prefer safety in numbers. See the story here.

Playing Defense With Sector ETFs

In an interesting look at various strategies to play defensively in this roller coaster market, southern California-based portfolio manager and advisor Gary Gordon looks at the Claymore/Sabrient Defensive Equity Index ETF (NYSE: DEF). Although it’s designed for times just like these, he finds that some of the fund’s traditionally defensive sectors aren’t providing much of a cushion right now.

Included in Gordon’s analysis is a look at taking a different approach using ETFs targeting separate sectors. He notes that DEF’s all-in-one portfolio hasn’t significantly outperformed the SPDR Trust (AMEX: SPY) by more than a few percentage points.

The analysis developed by Gordon, whose portfolio strategies have been profiled on IU.com in the past, can be found here.

Seven ETFs For Tuesday

Okay, it’s a slow news day so far, so we’ll bite. Here are TradingMarkets’ seven ETFs to watch entering a new trading day, given some downgrades in key sector leaders.

Hey, we don’t write this stuff … for the brave at heart, or professional trader, check here.

The Dark Side Of Leveraged ETFs

It’s probably not surprising to many investors that value-minded and long-term-oriented analysts at Morningstar.com aren’t real hip on ETFs and index funds that use leverage.

But here’s a new piece by Wenli Tan that adds more fuel to the fire. The author looks at an often-overlooked problem with how these funds work in the real world. The article explores something called negative compounding, which can really undercut a leveraged ETF’s returns over time. The story provides some specific examples using index funds and ETFs.  You can read it here.

Fundamental ETFs Under The Microscope

Radio talk show host and index-minded writer Ron DeLegge takes a look at fundamental ETFs and how they’re faring in the latest bear market.

Among others, he checks into the PowerShares FTSE RAFI US 1000 (NYSEArca: PRF) and other FTSE RAFI-based ETFs. DeLegge also makes a pitch for Index Strategy Maps, an idea pioneered by Rick Ferri. See the article here.

Health Care & Pharmas At Near-Term Bottoms?

On his blog, Chris Perruna makes a case that health care and pharmaceutical stocks have bottomed. Using charts of related indexes and ETFs, he’s advising not to trade blindly, but to move selectively in those two sectors, at least on watch lists.

In case you haven’t heard of Perruna before, he’s an advocate of William O’Neil’s CAN SLIM trading methodology. Of course, he’s the stockbroker turned data researcher and publisher of Investor’s Business Daily. You can check Perruna’s take on the system here.

Target-Date Retirement ETFs

Kyle Waller, IU.com columnist and savvy ETF analyst at Wiser Wealth Management, looks at the new target-date retirement funds by Barclays Global Investors.

Although a short piece, it offers some basic breakdowns of the new funds that might prove helpful to some. See it here.

Big S&P 500 Drop

For technical investors, an extremely short and yet extremely interesting post can be found at Bespoke Investment Group’s site. The well-known research group, which we’ve often cited in articles at IU.com, tries to put the S&P 500’s extended fall below the key 200-day moving average into perspective.

It does just that in very short order. Without further ado … click here.

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