“Timing is everything” goes the old adage. But all investors and traders know that timing an entry point or exit point of an investment idea and strategy is like predicting the weather without sophisticated radar equipment. In fact it might be more difficult.

Why? Not only because the fundamentals these days are enormously complicated, whether we are speaking of the stock markets, the bond markets, or the commodities markets, but because there are so many factors beyond our control and knowledge.

The “usual suspects” come to mind. The exchange specialists, the large instutional traders, the big financial firms with their trading desks, and now we are all competing with the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury, who appear to be able to buy and sell anything they decide to whenever they want. Isn’t that your perception as well?

So none of us can effectively “time the markets”. We can look back with

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Editor's Note: The following is a roundup of articles about ETFs, index funds and indexes by sources other than IndexUniverse.com. Comments and suggestions are welcome through email at: mcoleman@indexuniverse.com or mhougan@indexuniverse.com<!-- var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy36449 = 'mcoleman' + '@'; addy36449 = addy36449 + 'indexuniverse' + '.' + 'com'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy36449 ); document.write( '' ); //--> <!-- var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy54653 = 'mcoleman' + '@'; addy54653 = addy54653 + 'indexuniverse' + '.' + 'com'; var addy_text54653 = 'mcoleman' + '@' + 'indexuniverse' + '.' + 'com'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text54653 ); document.write( '' ); //--> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

GLD Now Has Bigger Gold Cache Than Japan

Gold holdings in exchange-traded funds rose 150 tons in the third quarter, compared

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Editor's Note: The following is a roundup of articles about ETFs, index funds and indexes by sources other than IndexUniverse.com. Comments and suggestions are welcome through email at: mcoleman@indexuniverse.com or mhougan@indexuniverse.com<!-- var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy36449 = 'mcoleman' + '@'; addy36449 = addy36449 + 'indexuniverse' + '.' + 'com'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy36449 ); document.write( '' ); //--> <!-- var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy54653 = 'mcoleman' + '@'; addy54653 = addy54653 + 'indexuniverse' + '.' + 'com'; var addy_text54653 = 'mcoleman' + '@' + 'indexuniverse' + '.' + 'com'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text54653 ); document.write( '' ); //-->

GLD Now Has Bigger Gold Cache Than Japan

Gold holdings in exchange-traded funds rose 150 tons in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 4 tons in the previous quarter and 139.5 tons in the same period

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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: <!-- var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy98263 = 'mcoleman' + '@'; addy98263 = addy98263 + 'indexuniverse' + '.' + 'com'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy98263 ); document.write( '' ); //-->mcoleman@indexuniverse.com. 

 

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

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Investors and traders alike can improve their understanding of the market by looking at specific sectors.  It is a great way of maintaining perspective, avoiding over-emphasis on the Dow or on individual stocks. It can be a mistake to miss the forest while watching trees ---- or vice versa!  A sector focus is a good solution. Looking at charts of the various sector ETF's is one approach.  While this is not a substitute for fundamental analysis, it provides powerful visual evidence of the market's verdict.  Our own rating system (TCA-ETF) combines Trends and Cycles with a touch of Anticipation in finding the most attractive ETF's.  (For new readers, there is a more complete description of our methods at the end of the article.) Nothing to Buy As has been the case for several weeks, our ETF landscape lacks any tempting choices.  This has been ...