Sometimes price action seems inconsistent with the fundamental story.  One of the ways we use our ETF rankings is to highlight developments that deserve further investigation. While financial sectors in general earn continued strong ratings, the most noteworthy feature of the new ratings is the rapid rise of two Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) ETF's.  (The complete current rankings are at the end of the article, along with an explanation of our methodology). Surprising REIT Strength Investors who choose REIT's general seek high yield and tax advantages.  The REIT must return 90% of income to unit holders to avoid taxation at the trust level.  Since certain non-cash expenses like depreciation reduce income, investors determine value as a multiple of adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) rather than a PE multiple.  The REIT provides smaller investors the opportunity to add real estate of various types ...

The Commercial Real Estate Sector: As The Other Shoe Drops - Be Wary of Bank Stocks

by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist

There’s another shoe that’s quietly starting to drop in the commercial real estate sector… one that could deal a fatal blow to some of the largest banks like Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and most of the other big boys in the news for the last year.

But you wouldn’t know that by looking at the headlines…

Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs announced a huge upside surprise in earnings, a $5 billion share offering, and its intention to pay back federal TARP funds ASAP.

The average investor might view this as a sign that things are returning to normal in the banking sector, and be tempted to start shoveling money back into banking stocks.

Let me suggest you wait

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If you think the stock market has bottomed, there is a way to double your return of the rise in the market, without buying stocks on margin, and without buying call options. You can do that by buying Ultra ETF's. An ETF or Exchange Traded Fund is structured to track various stock indices, and the Ultra ETFs are structured to provide double the performance of those indices. Most are traded on the American Stock Exchange. Depending on the ETF, it may even pay a yield. Here are several Ultra ETF's which will should rise by twice as much as the index that are tracking. You just need to pick the Ultra ETF for the sector or index that you think should perform the best.Ultra Basic Materials ProShares (UYM) has a goal of producing twice the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials index.Ultra ...

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“Inverse ETFs offer vital protection and potentially massive profits,” says Martin Weiss. In his The Safe Money Report, he takes a look at four “ultrashort” exchange-traded funds.

Track Martin’s picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/

“We long been warning that the outlook for the banking industry is dismal. In this environment, you can deploy a powerful weapon with inverse exchange-traded funds.

“These ETFs are designed to go up in value when the sector or index they target goes down. They’re liquid. They’re as cheap and easy to trade as major stocks. Plus, you can choose from a wide variety of inverse ETFs:

■ UltraShort Financials ProShares is designed to rise 20% for every 10% decline in the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. Large holdings include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and American International Group — all of whom are at the center of this financial crisis. As their stocks decline, SKF goes up.

■ UltraShort Real Estate ProShares

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Sure, the market is up today - but if you think the market is going bull any time soon, it’s time to put down the crack pipe. Next, reduce your long holdings, and finally, it’s time to take the plunge to the Dark Side with a Short Position. Here are 3 stocks that should continue to fall during the Bear Market: Symbol Company Industry Quote 52 Week...