China's A-Shares No. 1 In First Quarter

The best performing index in the first quarter was the Shanghai Composite, according to this Investor's Business Daily report.

It notes that a closed-end fund tapping into mainland China's stock exchange, which is largely closed to outside investors,  the Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund (CAF), has gained 49% so far this year. 

The story notes that China-focused ETFs haven't fared as well since they don't invest directly in A-Shares. But technically, they seem to be holding up well, writes IBD markets reporter Trang Ho. 

(Interestingly enough, Van Eck Global has filed to offer the first A-Shares focused open-end ETF. See story here.)

You can read the IBD report here.

Japan Tries Another Round of Stimulus Packages With ETFs

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is moving forward with plans for another round of government-enduced stimulus packages aimed at jolting the country's falling economy.

Portfolios Malkiel, Swedroe And Others Suggest

In this interesting story in the Washington Post, Bob Frick of Kiplinger.com notes that cutting fund costs is important in volatile times like these. Index funds and exchange-traded funds, he says, are great ways to go.

He talks to Burton Malkiel and Larry Swedroe, among others, about how they use index funds and ETFs and lists model portfolios that they're actually using. 

You can read the story here. 

Examining Put/Call Options & Indexes

An index put/call ratio can be an effective tool in predicting short-term market moves, concludes this RealMoney analysis on TheStreet.com. 

But there are some caveats that investors should keep in mind, says the author. He takes readers through an example of how well these metrics hold-up under closer scrutiny. 

You can read the story here.

ETFs Holding Relative Strength

In this new Investor's Business Daily piece, markets reporter Trang Ho looks at

Bonds Rally In Anticipation Of Friday's Jobs Report

Treasuries rallied on Thursday ahead of today's government report that a poll of economists predicts will show nearly 650,000 jobs lost in February. That would be the worst such Labor Department report in 60 years, according to the Reuters story. 

You can read it here. 

USO Now Controls Fifth Of Most Traded Oil Futures Contracts

In this Wall Street Journal piece, the growth of the U.S. Oil Fund (NYSE: USO) and its impact on trading in volatile energy markets is reviewed.

You can read the story here.

Sector Bets Can Be Risky

That's the theme of Ian Salisbury's latest column for Dow Jones Newswires. You can read the story here.

Indexing Wins In 2008

Sam Mamudi of MarketWatch notes that index funds beat their active rivals last year.

Tapping into Morningstar's database, he reports that the average actively managed mutual fund lost 40.5% and

Reuters Reports Barclays Not Selling BGI

Early Thursday, a Financial Times blog reported rumors that British financial services giant Barclays Plc was considering selling its Barclays Global Investors asset management business. Like other big London-based banks, Barclays has been hit hard by the recent credit crisis. 

But Reuters later reported that an inside source refuted such speculation.  BGI refused to comment. 

You can read the Reuters story here. The Financial Times blog can be found here.

Perhaps even better is an analysis by Financial News Online, a Dow Jones news service. It points out that BGI is the largest asset manager in the world and that it could fetch attractive prices for its banking parent. But it also notes that Barclays’ chief executive has recently said that he expects BGI to be a key growth engine for the entire company going forward. 

You can read the Financial News Online

…

Stock Picking Loses Favor

Many institutional money managers and advisers are moving away from stocks and into index funds and exchange-traded funds, reports CNBC’s  Jeff Cox.

You can read the story here.

Treasury Bubble Ready To Burst

In this new piece from Investor’s Business Daily, Trang Ho talks to advisers who are convinced that exchange-traded funds focusing on Treasuries are facing some tough times. 

You can read the story here.

Record Debt Issuance Ahead

Also, this Forbes story relates how the U.S. Treasury is planning to issue a record $67 billion in government debt this week, which is spooking traders that inflation will soon result as Congress works on a new stimulus plan. 

You can read the story here.

XLF Up, But Options Tell Different Story

According to Reuters, while shares of the Select Sector SPDR Financials ETF (NYSE: XLF) traded up on Monday, options trading activity showed a different

…

Corporate Bond Markets Still Tight

Gus Sauter of Vanguard is one of several fund managers to tell MarketWatch’s Sam Mamudi they’re still finding it tough to buy corporate bonds today as liquidity remains a problem. 

You can read the story here.

Tracking Error Remains Low In 2008

A new Morgan Stanley report on tracking error found that most exchange-traded funds scored relatively low numbers despite the market’s increased volatility, reports John Spence in his blog at MarketWatch. 

You can read the story here.

Launches Vs. Closings

At Investor’s Business Daily, markets reporter Trang Ho recaps closings and launches of ETFs last year and looks at what that might mean in 2009.

You can read the story here.

The VIX & New ETNs

At MarketWatch, John Spence interviews Journal of Indexes Editor Jim Wiandt about exchange-traded notes in registration that would attempt to track the so-called “Fear Index.”

You can read the story here.

Up, Up & Away

Airlines will be the top industry in 2009, Investor’s Business Daily reporter Trang Ho quotes an analyst as predicting. 

Along those lines, just in time comes a new Claymore Securities exchange-traded fund, the first to focus on global airlines. 

You can read the story here.

PowerShares Files To Launch Pair Of Active Bond ETFs

Already the sponsor of one of the first active bond ETFs, PowerShares has filed to open two more. Both will focus on mortgage-backed securities and be run by parent Invesco’s institutional managers, according to this piece in the Wall Street Journal. 

You can read the story here.

Barclays Sells Stake To Middle Eastern Investors

In this Bloomberg News report, Barclays Plc said it sold a 32% stake to Abu Dhabi's royal family and two Qatari investors after the London-based bank turned down government aid.

The financial giant is parent to Barclays Capital, issuer of exchange-traded notes, and Barclays Global Investors, the leading ETF family in the U.S. The article notes that shares of Barclays Plc dropped 10% on Thursday to their lowest levels in two decades.

The fall seems to also be attributed to admissions by Barclays that its deal in October includes provisions that could require it to sell more shares at a discount to the group of Middle Eastern investors. 

You can read the story here.

The Plight Of Barclays & ETNs

This Wall Street Journal story running in the paper's Friday morning editions and on its Web site considers the plight of

Disconnect Between Prices Of Oil Stocks & ETFs?

In a technical look at energy ETFs, markets reporter Trang Ho of Investor's Business Daily considers whether oil company stocks are experiencing a delayed reaction to the tumble in commodities and oil prices.

The story notes that the Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLE) has fallen some 50% from its high, much less than actual crude oil prices sold on the NYMEX.

You can read the story here.

Nine ETFs For A New Year

In the past few weeks, stock and fund pickers have been out in force offering their favorite bets for 2009. But Katy Marquardt of U.S. News & World Report takes a concise, well-considered and unique list of exchange-traded funds to offer investors in a new year.

For those of you who've tired of such annual rituals, Marquardt's tight writing makes sense of the reasons she provides for each category

Socially Responsible Investing's Growth

The latest word of so-called SRI funds moving into the exchange-traded funds market from Pax World leads Dow Jones Newswires' Ian Salisbury to recap the growth of such ETF products. 

You can read the story here.

Review of 2008 & Beyond

At Investor's Business Daily, reporter Trang Ho takes a look at the bigget winners and losers of 2008. But she also talks to advisors and strategists about which ETFs they're favoring in 2009.

You can read the story here.

Review Of December Returns

With a wide variety of ETFs producing strong returns in December, particularly real estate and gold, TheStreet.com's Sam Patel is warning of a mirage. 

He writes: "Such an eclectic group of funds signifies volatility across the board and suggests a lack of a sustainable trend. Investors unwilling and unable to take substantial risk should not play this market. They would be better served to wait until mid-2009 before making an assessment of