High Volume ETFs On The Cutline—Updated Through 4/13/2011

Ulli ETFs on the Cutline Contact

Here’s a slightly different version of the original “ETFs On The Cutline” report. It includes only High Volume (HV) ETFs, which I define as those with an average daily volume of $10 million or higher.

These ETFs are generated from my selected list of 90 that I use in my advisor practice. It cuts out the “noise,” which simply means it eliminates those ETFs that I would never buy because of their volume limitations.

Short ETFs are not yet included but will be in the future. Take a look at the table:

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Correction

Ulli Model ETF Portfolios Contact

In the previous post, featuring the 5 Model ETF portfolios, the starting date was given as 12/31/2011. That obviously was supposed to be 12/31/2010.

My mistake. Sorry.

Ulli…

5 ETF Model Portfolios You Can Use

Ulli Model ETF Portfolios Contact

Let me just shatter one myth that seems to come up regularly in correspondence with readers. It is the erroneous assumption that an ideal ETF model portfolio exists that is perfect in its composition and will withstand the vagaries of the market place.

It does not exist!

Portfolio composition is a function of risk tolerance and time frame, along with its objective of growing assets, generating income, or a combination of both. Nothing more and nothing less.

In this new blog series, I am introducing 5 ETF portfolio options, some of which are being widely used in the advisor community. Of course, there are as many portfolio choices as there are advisors, so my 5 listings represent a small sampling of what’s out there.

Again, there is no right or wrong, or better or worse, when it comes to portfolios; the only thing that matters is what’s appropriate for your particular circumstances.

Let’s take a look at the first one:

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Major Market ETFs Sink On Weak Economic Outlook

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

There was no green number to be found in today’s market pullback, as the chart from MarketWatch clearly shows.

It was a day during which recovery worries clearly surfaced as it appeared that the economy may not be as strong as had been previously assumed. While these inconvenient thoughts have surfaced from time to time, bullish sentiment has always won in the recent past.

Whether this is the start to more downside activity is simply too early to tell. The sell off was broad and covered equities, crude oil, gold, commodities and emerging markets. Bonds bucked the trend as interest rates headed lower.

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Mutual Funds On The Cutline—Helping You To Better Manage your 401k

Ulli Mutual Funds On The Cutline Contact

With over 99% of all investors being committed to the use mutual funds in their 401k retirement plans, my weekly StatSheet was the first step in providing you with tools to make better investment decisions.

Last week, I introduced “ETFs On The Cutline,” and I have now expanded this idea for use in the mutual fund arena as well. This is the first post in a regular series to provide you with the same relevant data, which you can use with any of your retirement plans.

While there are thousands more mutual funds than ETFs existing in the investment universe, how can you use this data if your respective fund choices are not listed?

First, let’s take a look at the latest cut line table for mutual funds:

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A New Corporate Bond ETF (CBND)

Ulli Bond ETFs Contact

With interest rates hovering around the zero line, ETF providers are scrambling to bring additional products on the market to satisfy the income needs of the investing public, as reported by Barron’s:

Funky niche ETFs might be annoying to some. But State Street’s (STT) Global Advisors group today brought to market a fund which could actually clean out much of the clutter in a rather expansive ETF marketplace.

Enter the SPDR Barclays Capital Issuer Scored Corporate Bond ETF (CBND). Instead of picking and ranking its components by who’s the biggest (which, in this environment can be akin to who’s in the worst shape), CBND selects its issues based on fundamentals. Those include metrics such as  return on assets, interest coverage and measures related to a company’s ability to fund  short-term obligations.

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