New ETFs On The Block: iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF (MEAR)

Ulli Municipal ETFs Contact

160239452As the US recovery starts to gain momentum amid an improving labor market, the buzz of a possible lift-off for the Federal Funds Rate (FFR) by the second-half of this year is getting louder.

Needless to say, the short end of the yield curve is drawing top dollars as worried fixed income investors are rushing in to protect their capital before the Fed makes its move. Also, the tax-free status of muni bonds makes them doubly more attractive, particularly for individuals that belong to the high tax bracket.

To take advantage of renewed investor interest in the fixed income space, iShares, the world’s largest issuer of exchange traded funds, recently launched its first actively-managed munis ETF.  The newly rolled out iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF (MEAR) targets investment-grade municipal debt with maturities less than five years.

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05-08-2015

Ulli Newsletter Archives Contact

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter For May 8, 2015

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker StatSheet

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THE LINK TO OUR CURRENT ETF/MUTUAL FUND STATSHEET IS:

https://theetfbully.com/2015/05/weekly-statsheet-for-the-etfno-load-fund-tracker-newsletter-updated-through-05072015/

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Market Commentary

STOCKS REALIZE SOLID END TO A BUSY WEEK

Fri pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Stocks staged a strong rally Friday as the government reported that job gains rebounded in April. This allowed investors to breathe a sigh of relief, as they were hoping that March’s disappointing jobs report was temporary. The report showed that the economy added 223,000 jobs in April, which was significantly higher than job gains in March. All 30 stocks in the Dow index rose, and all 10 of the S&P sectors gained, with materials and energy leading the way.

For the week, all major indexes were higher, while performance across sectors was mixed. Financials were the strongest upward movers this week, while telecom and energy both moved lower. We received mostly upbeat earnings reports across the board as earnings season is coming to a close.

In international news, a big gain in U.K. stocks today pushed European shares to their biggest gain of 2015 after a surprise election victory for the Conservatives kept David Cameron as Britain’s prime minister. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose about 2.9%.

As far as other economic data goes, retail sales will be announced next Wednesday and the Producer Price Index is expected Thursday.

All of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight joined upward momentum and closed higher. The leader was the Global 100 (IOO) with a gain of 1.83%, which was closely followed by Healthcare (XLV) at +1.62%. Lagging the bunch was DVY, which added 0.97%.

2. ETFs in the Spotlight

In case you missed the announcement and description of this section, you can read it here again.

It features 10 broadly diversified ETFs from my HighVolume list as posted every Monday. Furthermore, they are screened for the lowest MaxDD% number meaning they have been showing better resistance to temporary sell offs than all others over the past year.

Here are the 10 candidates:

MaxDD

The above table simply demonstrates the magnitude with which some of the ETFs are fluctuating in regards to their positions above or below their respective individual trend lines (%M/A). A break below, represented by a negative number, shows weakness, while a break above, represented by a positive percentage, shows strength.

For hundreds of ETF/Mutual fund choices, be sure to reference Thursday’s StatSheet.

Year to date, here’s how the above candidates have fared so far:

YTD

Again, the first table above shows the position of the various ETFs in relation to their respective long term trend lines (%M/A), while the second one tracks their trailing sell stops in the “Off High” column. The “Action” column will signal a “Sell” once the -7.5% point has been taken out in the “Off High” column.

3. Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs)

Our Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs) recovered and moved deeper into bullish territory.

Here’s how we closed the week:

Domestic TTI: +2.54% (last Friday +2.49%)—Buy signal effective 10/22/2014

International TTI: +5.07% (last Friday +4.64%)—Buy signal effective 2/13/2015

Have a nice weekend.

Ulli…

Disclosure: I am obliged to inform you that I, as well as advisory clients of mine, own some of these listed ETFs. Furthermore, they do not represent a specific investment recommendation for you, they merely show which ETFs from the universe I track are falling within the guidelines specified.

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READER Q & A FOR THE WEEK

All Reader Q & A’s are listed at our web site!
Check it out at:

http://www.successful-investment.com/q&a.php

Reader Chuck:

Q: Ulli: Is VEU a good proxy for your international indicator, or do you prefer IOO?

A: Chuck: Neither functions as a proxy; however, as an investment, I prefer IOO, which is why it is a member of the daily featured ETFs in the Spotlight. While performance is similar, IOO sports less volatility and therefore allows us to ride out some market fluctuations without getting stopped out too much.

Here’s a 1-year chart comparison:

IOO-VEU

As you can see, VEU (red) clearly shows more downside momentum during corrective moves in the market, while IOO (blue) seems to hold up better. That’s why I prefer it.

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WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR INVESTMENTS PROFESSIONALLY MANAGED?

Do you have the time to follow our investment plans yourself? If you are a busy professional who would like to have his portfolio managed using our methodology, please contact me directly or get more details at:

https://theetfbully.com/personal-investment-management/

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Back issues of the ETF/No Load Fund Tracker are available on the web at:

https://theetfbully.com/newsletter-archives/

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter For May 8, 2015

Ulli ETF Tracker Contact

ETF/No Load Fund Tracker StatSheet

————————————————————-

THE LINK TO OUR CURRENT ETF/MUTUAL FUND STATSHEET IS:

https://theetfbully.com/2015/05/weekly-statsheet-for-the-etfno-load-fund-tracker-newsletter-updated-through-05072015/

————————————————————

Market Commentary

STOCKS REALIZE SOLID END TO A BUSY WEEK

Fri pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Stocks staged a strong rally Friday as the government reported that job gains rebounded in April. This allowed investors to breathe a sigh of relief, as they were hoping that March’s disappointing jobs report was temporary. The report showed that the economy added 223,000 jobs in April, which was significantly higher than job gains in March. All 30 stocks in the Dow index rose, and all 10 of the S&P sectors gained, with materials and energy leading the way.

For the week, all major indexes were higher, while performance across sectors was mixed. Financials were the strongest upward movers this week, while telecom and energy both moved lower. We received mostly upbeat earnings reports across the board as earnings season is coming to a close.

In international news, a big gain in U.K. stocks today pushed European shares to their biggest gain of 2015 after a surprise election victory for the Conservatives kept David Cameron as Britain’s prime minister. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose about 2.9%.

As far as other economic data goes, retail sales will be announced next Wednesday and the Producer Price Index is expected Thursday.

All of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight joined upward momentum and closed higher. The leader was the Global 100 (IOO) with a gain of 1.83%, which was closely followed by Healthcare (XLV) at +1.62%. Lagging the bunch was DVY, which added 0.97%.

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Weekly StatSheet For The ETF/No Load Fund Tracker Newsletter – Updated Through 05/07/2015

Ulli ETF StatSheet Contact

ETF/Mutual Fund Data updated through Thursday, May 7, 2015

TOC021915

If you are not familiar with some of the terminology used, please see the Glossary of Terms.

 

1. DOMESTIC EQUITY MUTUAL FUNDS/ETFs: BUY — since 10/22/2014

TTI

Our main directional indicator, the Domestic Trend Tracking Index (TTI), broke through its long-term trend line generating a “Sell” for this arena effective 10/14/2014, which was followed by a violent break back above the line on 10/22/14 generating a new “Buy.” It was a classic whipsaw signal, and you can read more on my blog as to the events as they were unfolding.

As of today, our TTI (green line in above chart) is positioned above its long term trend line (red) by +2.05% keeping us in the market with our established positions.

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It Was All About Tech Today

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Thur pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Stocks gained today with the Dow climbing 82 points as investors shook off growing concerns about overvalued stocks and rising interest rates.

Markets broke a 2-day losing streak; however, the mood remained cautious after comments by Janet Yellen Wednesday that suggested stocks are generally overvalued. Lady Yellen said market valuations were generally “quite high” in response to a question about risks to financial stability at a conference.

Alibaba (BABA) was all over the news today. Shares gained 7.5% as the Chinese Internet giant reported earnings that toppled Wall Street expectations and noted a strategic HR move, of which entails that the COO Daniel Zhang will become the new CEO. Yahoo (YHOO), who owns about 15% of the Chinese Internet firm, also got a boost as shares jumped 5.2%.

And finally, online review site Yelp (YELP) saw a massive gain of 23% today, mostly based on a report that the company was exploring a sale. Wanna buy? Yelp could net more than $3.5 billion in a strategic sale, says a report from WSJ. Until then, keep yelping your favorite restaurants and hot spots.

9 of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight closed up as the indexes managed to establish some upside momentum. Leading the charge were the Financials (IYF) with a gain of 0.75%, while The Global 100 (IOO) was the lone loser with -0.14%.

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Markets Turn South After Early Morning Gains

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Wed pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Stocks pared back early gains to close in the red across the board. Rising interest rates and oil prices appeared to be the culprits today.

Oil dragged markets lower today as prices jumped above $61 a barrel. The U.S. benchmark rose 2.1% to $61.65 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as concerns about rising demand and easing supply stoked the recent rally in crude prices.

Interest rates here in the U.S. continued their steady climb of late. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note was at 2.24%, up from 2.18% on Tuesday, following a global trend of surging yields. Investors continue to listen closely to commentary from Fed policy makers and watch economic data for clues on the timing of future interest-rate increases.

The latest update on the jobs front did not add any confidence to market concerns today. Payroll processor ADP said today that businesses added just 169,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected 198,000 new jobs. The jobs trend has been on a downward move since November 2014.

And in earnings news, Tesla (TSLA) reported losing $45 million last quarter, but that was less than expected. Shares subsequently rose in after-hours trading. Besides its electric cars, Tesla announced last week that it is also going to venture into home and business battery units.

9 of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight closed lower with only Consumer Staples (XLP) bucking the trend by gaining 0.31%. Leading the downside were the Financials (IYF) with a loss of 0.46%.

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