a href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213amp;sid=ag111_Nsp2jU"Interesting piece/a out at Bloomberg about CGM's Ken Heebner trailing the market again for a 2nd year in a row after a huge 80% return in 2007:br /br /ullia href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Kenneth+Heebneramp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Kenneth Heebner/a’s CGM Focus Fund is at the bottom of the heap for the second consecutive year after investments in insurers such as a href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=HIG%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'HIG:US' ))"Hartford Financial Group Inc/a. and retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. went awry./lilia href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=CGMFX%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'CGMFX:US' ))"CGM Focus/a, with $3.6 billion in assets, trailed 96 percent of similarly managed funds in 2008 and 99 percent this year through July 9, according to data compiled by a href="http://www.morningstar.com/" target="_blank" onmouseover="return escape( popwOpenWebSite( this ))"Morningstar Inc/a. Heebner, co-founder of Boston-based Capital Growth Management LP, had the only fund in the group with $100 million or more that ranked in the bottom 5 percent in both years, ...

Leveraged exchange-traded funds that short U.S. Treasury bonds got a nice pop last week from a jump in yields, and the ETFs could see further gains if investors lose their thirst for government-backed debt.

In a dramatic sell-off Wednesday in government bonds, yields on 10-year notes surged above 3.7% at one point to their highest levels since November. That upheaval in the bond markets, which some traders said was exacerbated by mortgage-related selling, ignited fears that inflation is on the horizon as a result of the government’s efforts revive the ailing financial system.

Other forces driving interest rates higher included worries there won’t be enough demand to meet massive auctions of Treasury bonds down the line, and hopes that the global economic picture may be brightening.

Nervous investors have piled into U.S. government debt during the credit crisis, sending yields to

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In a move that could shake up the clubby business of exchange-traded funds, bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co. is poised to launch its first ETF early this week.

The move by Pimco, a unit of Allianz SE co-founded by bond guru Bill Gross, marks the first time in years such a high-profile mutual-fund company has tried to muscle its way into the ETF business, long dominated by a handful of large-but-lesser-known asset managers that specialize in indexing, such as Barclays PLC and State Street Corp.

ETFs, baskets of stocks or bonds that trade on an exchange, have been rapidly gaining popularity with investors, and took in tens of billions of dollars in 2008. But many big-name mutual-fund companies have shrugged off ETFs because these offerings were traditionally just index funds with low management fees, which ensured that profit margins were measly.

Pimco’s

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Actively managed exchange traded funds are finally starting to trickle into the market.

But for the trickle to become a flood, active ETFs will have to overcome a number of obstacles, not the least of which is the establishment of desirable performance.

“Would people want active management that comes with the tax advantages, transparency and liquidity of an ETF?” asked Scott Burns, the director of ETF analysis at Morningstar Inc. of Chicago and editor of Morningstar ETFInvestor, a monthly newsletter. “The answer is yes, but if it turns into a tradeoff for returns, the answer is no.”

It is a challenge, but some asset managers think that they are up to it.

The Grail American Beacon Large Cap Value ETF (GVT) from Grail Advisors LLC of San Francisco, which began trading on May 4, allows portfolio managers unrestricted trading.

Full Story: http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090531/REG/305319965/1025/ETF

In a move that could shake up the clubby exchange-traded fund business, bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co. is poised to launch its first ETF early next week.

The move by Pimco, co-founded by bond guru Bill Gross, marks the first time in years such a high-profile mutual fund company has tried to muscle its way into the ETF business, long dominated by a handful of large-but-lesser-known asset managers that specialize in indexing, such as Barclays PLC (BCS) and State Street Corp. (STT).

ETFs, baskets of stocks or bonds that trade on an exchange, have been rapidly gaining popularity with investors, taking in tens of billions of dollars in 2008 as similar amounts fled conventional funds.

But many big-name mutual fund companies have shrugged off ETFs because they were traditionally all index funds, making it hard to distinguish new offerings and keeping

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U.S. small-cap value stocks have been the worst performers so far this year, but recent history shows they could emerge as the frontrunners if the economy stages a recovery.

Of course, corporate earnings still face serious financial headwinds and investors could pay a steep price for getting in too early.

Nonetheless, Russell Investments recently examined the stock market’s performance during the five recessions that have hit the U.S. economy since 1980, including the current credit malaise. The research uncovered clear trends in how growth and value stocks perform during recessions.

On average, “value has underperformed relative to growth during periods of economic contraction,” according to the report.

“This relative underperformance has reversed almost immediately when the economy bottomed out and turned upward, and value has markedly outperformed growth in the early periods of economic expansion,” Russell said.

“This pattern has been strongest in the

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It was bound to happen, I suppose. While exchange-traded funds have not yet attracted the multi-trillions of dollars that mutual funds have, ETFs have become popular enough they’re starting to acquire some of the bad habits of their older rivals.

The first generation of ETFs were low-cost, broadly diversified products from firms like Barclays and Vanguard, well suited to average investors wishing to expose the core of their portfolios to the broad equity market.

But we are well into the second phase of ETF proliferation, with more volatile sector ETFs sporting considerably higher price tags. How complex it’s become can be inferred from the fact BetaPro Management Inc. is hosting an all-day Horizons ETF University session today at Ryerson University, part of a seven-city road show. 

BetaPro came under fire last week from consumer advocacy group FAIR for not disclosing clearly enough

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Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Actuate Corp (ACTU) Allied World Assurance Holdings Ltd (AWH) American Italian Pasta Co (AIPC) American Safety Insurance Holdings Ltd (ASI) American Technology Corp (ATCO) Anaren Inc (ANEN) ARCA biopharma Inc (ABIO) Big Lots Inc (BIG) Bionovo Inc (BNVI) BJ's Restaurants Inc (BJRI) Blackrock Kelso Capital Corp (BKCC) Calamos Asset Management Inc (CLMS) Cardtronics Inc (CATM) Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) deCODE genetics Inc (DCGN) Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ) First Mariner Bancorp (FMAR) General Cable Corp (BGC) HopFed Bancorp Inc (HFBC) Integrys Energy Group Inc (TEG) Kforce Inc (KFRC) Klabin SA (KLBAY) Lancaster Colony Corp (LANC) Linktone Ltd (LTON) MDC Partners Inc (MDCA) Mindspeed Technologies Inc (MSPD) Monarch Casino & ...

Five more SRI-themed ETFs are proposed, each focusing on specific religions and different sets of beliefs.

 

The market for socially responsible investing continues to grow for exchange-traded funds investors. Now, a group based in Oklahoma City, Okla., is proposing a set of faith-specific ETFs to launch in the near future.

FaithShares Inc., which is advised by FaithShares Advisors, is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval to offer five new SRI-themed ETFs. Those would be:

The FaithShares Baptist Values Fund The FaithShares Catholic Values Fund The FaithShares Christian Values Fund The FaithShares Lutheran Values Fund The FaithShares Methodist Values Fund

So far, just two SRI ETFs are available on the market, both sponsored by Barclays Global Investors. Those are the iShares KLD 400 Social Index (NYSE: DSI) and the iShares KLD Select Social Index (NYSE: KLD). The first came out in 2005, and the second at the end of 2006. Combined, both have more

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Within just the past month, the field of leading ETF and ETN performers has diversified to include several different sectors. 

The market rebound, whether a joyous celebration of a new year or something that might last awhile, is certainly changing the landscape for stock and bond investors.

As we noted in December, leveraged exchange-traded funds dominated top performers in 2008. (See story here.)

Many of those types of portfolios are still leading the pack today. But in the past month, the field has become a lot more diverse in terms of the top 20 performers. For example, the UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China 25 ProShare ETF (NYSE: FXP) had gained more than 22% in that period heading into Wednesday, according to Morningstar.

But the top gainer has been the PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN (NYSE: DTO).  It was up nearly 34% in 2008.  Other notable leading leveraged performers in the past month include a pair of exchange-traded notes. Those are:

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