Direct from Schwab's New York ETF launch event, Matt Hougan and Dave Nadig discuss the "free-to-trade" ETF concept.

Matt Hougan and Dave Nadig debate the pros and cons of exchange-traded notes, examining their tax treatment, issuer credit risk and the dearth of new products.

Leading academics and index experts examine how investors should handle the falling dollar.

 

The Death Of The Dollar?, the November/December 2009 issue of the Journal Of Indexes, focuses on currency and related strategies, with contributions from Invesco PowerShares' Bruce Bond, the International Securities Exchange's Steve Meizinger and Marc Chandler and Jeffrey McCarthy of Brown Brothers Harriman, not to mention a currency primer by Index Publications' own Dave Nadig, Matt Hougan and Lara Crigger.

Other articles in the publication include a look at how EMH weathered the financial crisis of 2008 by David Blitzer, the first installment of a three-part series on improving fund evaluation techniques by Gary Gastineau and a study from David Blanchett on how to figure out the "passive" portion of an actively managed portfolio. And let's not forget the ETF crossword puzzle on the back page!

You can view the entire issue

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Target date ETF families are wildly different and seemingly unpredictable. So why do both Matt Hougan and Dave Nadig use them?

Matt Hougan’s recent article on Morgan Stanley’s China A-Share closed-end fund (NYSEArca: CAF) brings some much-overlooked discussion to the table of Chinese mainland-listed share valuations, and to what extent they are overpriced.

Matt points out that as a closed-end fund, CAF currently trades at a premium. In addition, the Shanghai-listed Chinese A-shares that the fund invests in also trade at a premium, compared with equivalent shares listed abroad. Add it together and CAF ends up being 18 percent more expensive than a basket of similar Chinese company shares listed in Hong Kong or New York.

In other words, you are paying nearly a fifth extra for the hope that other international investors will, over time, attempt to flock to Shanghai. (Read the whole story here.)

For Matt, that’s too high a price for what seems like an outright gamble. There are few who

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Barclays is saying the U.S. is out of a recession and headed for veritable boom times. IndexUniverse's Matt Hougan and Dave Nadig aren't so sure.

Deloitte's new report on ETFs sees strong growth in the future. They're right, Matt Hougan says, but (partially) for the wrong reasons.

Sponsors of the United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca: UNG) took baby steps toward restoring the fund’s ability to issue new shares yesterday.

 

Sponsors of the United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca: UNG) took baby steps toward restoring the fund’s ability to issue new shares yesterday.

UNG is an exchange-traded fund that invests in the natural gas futures market. The fund stopped issuing new shares on Aug. 12, citing regulatory uncertainty in the commodities marketplace. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating the role of ETFs in the commodities market and is expected to announce strict position limits for such funds. Many expect the $4 billion UNG ETF to exceed the allowable limits, as it controls a significant portion of the front-month natural gas futures market.

Since halting the issuance of new shares, UNG has traded at a sharp premium to its underlying net asset value, as demand for the fund has outstripped

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Law Firms Threatening Action Against Leveraged ETF Providers

At least two law firms say they're talking to clients who use leveraged exchange-traded funds about potential lawsuits against the funds' providers.

The list is large and includes ETFs sponsored by ProShares, PowerShares, Direxion and ETF Securities, which recently entered the U.S. (see story here.)

How do we know this? The law firms, of course, put out a press release. You can read it here.

 

Two Deutsche Bank Funds Hit By CTFC Ruling

A pair of PowerShares-DB commodity ETFs will be curtailed in how much they can buy in soybeans, wheat and corn due to a decision by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

You can read this Bloomberg News report for more details. Also, check Matt Hougan's blog here.

 

SSgA's Hoguet: Sovereign Wealth Funds To Buy SDRs

Special drawing rights, or SDRs, are what the International Monetary Fund uses internally as currency markers to traverse

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With the launch of a new bullion-based silver ETF, Matt Hougan and Dave Nadig pose the question: Is SIVR a better mousetrap, or just another shiny bauble?