Exchange Traded Funds
They call 'em ETFs.
There are hundreds of them.
The mutual funds don't want you to find out about them.
Why?
Because they beat the socks off mutual funds in so many categories. The expense ratios of most mutual funds runs about 1.5% and many are much higher. To buy a mutual fund you must wait until the end of the day to find out what price you paid. Many mutual funds have instituted redemption charges should you decide to sell out early. Early is whatever definition they want to apply and could be a year out, maybe more. The fee at this time is about 2% for many funds.
Fund managers tell you it is to discourage overnight trading that adds to their expenses and therefore penalizes shareholders, but that is not true.
The two most popular ETFs are SPY and QQQ. SPY is composed of the stocks in the SP500 Index with 500 stocks and it is priced every few minutes. It can be bought and sold any time during the day. The mutual funds who tell you it is too expensive to price their funds more than once a day are either lying or stupid. ETFs prove that. And that same logic goes for short term trading.
The investor buys and sells ETFs the same as any stock. The big brokerage companies charge high commission whereas investors who place buy and sell orders with discount brokers will find commissions around $7.00 to $15.00 to buy or sell. That charge is for one ticket and not per 100 shares. The commission is the same for 100 shares or 1,000 or more shares. Big Wall Street firms charge many times this for the same execution.
You can do research on ETFs just as you do on mutual funds. If you want to determine what stocks an ETF manger holds they will tell you in their prospectus. What you want to know is what Sector the ETF represents. The internal structure does not change often as does the stock ownership in a regular mutual fund.
At this time there is one drawback to buying and selling certain ETFs. Do not place Market Orders when buying and selling most ETFs unless it trades more than 250,000 shares each day. As with stock there is a Bid and Offer Price. In thinly traded issues where the ETF has a volume of less than 50,000 shares daily the Spread can be as high as 20 cents and many times more. In these issue it is suggested Limit Price Orders be entered. If the last trade was $20.50 the Bid could be $20.40 and the Offer $20.60. A market buy order would be filled at $20.60 and a sell order at $20.40. It is best to place a Limit Order at $20.50 and most of the time these will be executed at the Limit Order price. Stop Loss Orders are also poorly executed in low volume ETFs.
Over the next few years as more and more investors discover these advantages they will be buying ETFs in preference to both load and no-load mutual funds.
investment, money, mutual funds, Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know. Copyright 2005
Latest News
 Sydney Morning Herald | Microsoft's Ballmer to CES: keep investing in tech despite ... Scientific American - Las Vegas , NEV. -- In his first ever CES keynote, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer yesterday acknowledged the tough economic times, but urged companies not to ... Microsoft: the year ahead Microsoft releases Windows Server 2008 R2 beta Windows 7 beta available worldwide on Friday |
 The Money Times | The Best Investment Values in a Decade Motley Fool - These days, we're presented with what Ron Muhlenkamp a few months ago called "the best investment values we've seen in a decade." Obviously, the market has ... You Are About to Make a Bad Investment The Flight to Safety Could Burn You Wednesday's Biggest Stock Stars |
 Dividend.com | Billionaire investor places next supermarket bet MarketWatch - Yucaipa's investment funds have been aggressive buyers of Whole Foods shares since Nov. 24, spending a net $98 million to amass the stake. ... Activist shareholder buys 7 percent stake in Whole Foods Billionaire investor Burkle bets on Whole Foods |
 Wealth Bulletin | How to avoid a Madoff fund San Francisco Chronicle, USA - Feeder-funds (hedge funds or funds that do all their investing through another fund) and funds-of- funds sold investment services to individuals, ... The Financial Services Industry’s Free Lunch Fund-of-Hedge Funds Lacked Technology to Avoid Madoff Losses D Bank declined offers to invest with Madoff |
Thomas, McNerney & Partners Promotes Three Members of Its ... PR Newswire (press release), NY - Thomas, McNerney & Partners is a health care venture capital firm with approximately $600 million under management, focused on investing in life science and ... |
 Markets Media News | Uma Thurman No Help to Arpad Busson in Madoff Fraud’s Nightmare Bloomberg - In mid-December, EIM disclosed it was one of at least a dozen funds of funds caught up in the massive alleged fraud perpetrated by New York investment ... Hedge funds' year is worst ever, and fall may continue Blackstone To Rationalize Single Manager Hedge Funds Businesses In ... Hedge Funds Meet Their Match |
US investment in IT would create jobs, group says ITworld.com, MA - by Grant Gross A US$30 billion investment by the US government in broadband, health IT and smart energy grids would create or retain nearly a million jobs, ... New ITIF Report Documents How $30 Billion IT Stimulus Package ... $30B IT Stimulus Will Create Almost 1 Million Jobs |
Invesco Fund Loss Stirs Investor Fears Wall Street Journal - By DIYA GULLAPALLI 'Stable-value" investment funds have been one of the last havens in employee-retirement accounts. But one, advised by money manager ... |
New T. Rowe Price mutual fund eyes global investment Bizjournals.com, NC - T. Rowe Price Group Inc. is launching a new mutual fund seeking reward amid the risks of global fixed-income investing. The Strategic Income Fund will ... |
Coalition pushes for expansion of angel-venture investment program WTN News, WI - “The problem with this program is that we can't get enough of it,” said Teresa Esser, director of Silicon Pastures, a Milwaukee-based angel investment group ... |
Resources
-
No Money Down - Creative Real Estate Investing!
Learn how to control real estate Without credit checks and no money down! You can Buy With No Credit!
-
real estate foreclosures- home69
Proven real estate Investing course specializing in foreclosures and pre-forclosures.
-
Real Estate Investing
How To Start And Run Your Own outrageously Profitable Fixer-Upper Business In As Little As 45 Days, even If You Can
-
Foreclosures - Real Estate Investing - Short Sales.
Learn about foreclosures and real estate Investing techniques like short sales and subject to financing
-
Online Trading for Financial Freedom - stock daytrading strategy.
Stock index trading strategy for beginning and experienced traders alike.
-
Real Estate Investing - Foreclosures
How To Start And Run Your Own outrageously Profitable Fixer-Upper Business In As Little As 45 Days, even If You Can
-
Real Estate Investing Course for Profits in Investing
Real estate Investing course reveals proven real estate Investing strategies using Lease Options and Creative Financing where you can earn big money Investing in real estate with no down and no credit
-
Make money stock trading, day trading, Investing and trading options like the pros!
Turn $200 into $4,630 in 30 days by trading options online from your home PC. Step by step instructions for novices or investment pros. Make money stock trading, day trading, Investing and trading options like the pros!
-
Make real money Investing in real estate by Lou Vukas
Lou Vukas gives you the insider secrets to making real money in real estate regardless of your credit, finances or location at realestatefortunes.com.
-
Real Estate Investing
eBook on Real Estate Investing and Real Estate Marketing