| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
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
MORE RESOURCES:
Investing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Investing & Online Stock & Share Trading: Money & Risk Management - Atkinson Portfolio Planner (1) This article was originally featured in Daryl Guppy's 'Tutorials in Applied Technical Analysis', voted no 1 trading newsletter in Australia by Shares magazine & no 4 in the world by US Stocks & Commodities magazine and is reprinted here with Daryl's permission.In addition to developing sound technical analysis skills, strong trading psychology coupled with well thought-out money and risk management are also vital key secrets for success when trading or investing in the market. Find Your Investing Soulmate on the Jersey Turnpike As a followup to a previous column, "Irreconcilable Differences," I received an e-mail from a reader asking how she could ensure, ahead of time, investment compatibility with a future spouse.Unfortunately, like most issues in life, the direct approach does not work. Discover the Foundation of Retiring Wealthy - The IRA! Let me tell you about some legal ways to avoid getting taxed on profits from the stock market. You can make a lot of money now with the stock market as low as it is at this time as I teach you in my home study course. Finding a Broker "Hey Joe! I need help finding a broker. I notice that discount commission rates are pretty much the same. Stock Market Leaders and Laggards Leaders are stocks that breakout immediately when the market confirms a new rally. In the first several weeks, strong stocks with leadership ability will breakout on volume above their 50-day average. Use of a Franchise Business as a Family Tax Planning Strategy Suggesting the use of a franchise business as a vehicle for family estate and tax planning. Specifically using as an example, The Car Wash Guys, a portable car wash franchise, where you will be purchasing a completely designed and outfitted car wash truck and the right to develop a specific city or regional area with out of pocket start-up costs between $25-50,000. Quit and Retire Three Years Earlier! For most people, there is a direct correlation between how worried they are about retirement income, and how much they can actually do about it. This is because the more worried you are, the closer you probably are to retirement, and the less time you have to do anything - like save up. Trading Tips No 4: Technical Analysis The Holy Grail Syndrome Everyone knows that the Holy Grail of investing and trading is a myth. Finding a good technical analysis tool that will give you a trading system that wins all the time is called the holy grail of trading. Creating a Financial Future--Putting Your Plan Into Action Part 2 Real Estate can be a useful tool for investing. The simplest real estate investment is not truly an investment, but a cost-reduction - that is owning your own home. Pros & Cons of Investing in Bonds What are Bonds?A bond is a debt security, by which you are lending money to a government, municipality, corporation, federal agency or other entity known as the issuer. In return for investing in the bond, the issuer promises to pay you a specified rate of interest during the life of the bond and to repay the face value of the bond (the principal) when it becomes due. Angels Investors and Their Networks What is an Angel Investor? An Angel is usually a private person who invests in small businesses. The Angel is generally a successful businessperson or entrepreneur who looks to invest in a business that has potential for growing their investment in the future. Now is the Time to Invest for Your Retirement! Yes, it's the time we've all been waiting for?tax season! We know you've gotten a jump start and filed early this year, right? Of course not, but rather than dreading this part of the year, we should all look to it as a point for new opportunities. Many readers don't realize that even though the New Year has come, they can invest money as if it were still 2004! That's correct, it's not too late. 25 Ways to Find Companies to Buy When you start your program to purchase your "ideal" company, you quickly realize that your ultimate success will depend on two primary skill sets: 1) Your ability to FIND viable companies that are for sale, and 2) Your ability to effectively qualify the potential acquisition investment once found.This article is about only step one, how to creatively find viable companies and one's that are able to be purchased. Property Investment Just Got Exciting There is an area in Brazil that has lower crime & lower property prices than where your are probably sitting right now!Demand from the increasing retirement population and from those who have benefited from their own property markets are now pushing overseas property prices up. Brazilian property prices are still very low and offer the overseas property buyer quality real estate in stunning locations. How to Invest Overseas - Intelligently! In recent months, many advisors have talked a lot about the wisdom of investing overseas, but most have failed to really address the way to do that. For new investors, investing in the U. Investment Rowing You have rowed a boat at some time haven't you? Yes, put the oars in the water and pull. Of course, you don't know where you are going because you are sitting backwards. Discipline in Investing and Trading Discipline can be simply defined as your ability to follow your investing and trading plan.Discipline is a rather simple concept. Hedge Fund 101 - Make Money with Hedge Funds Investors are always looking for the best investments that will yield the most profit. Any investor who can afford the extra cost should consider investing in Hedge Funds. Seecrets on Investment: Tired of Making Huge Losses in the Stock Market - Part 1 Over 80% of all individual investors lose money in any given span of ten years. This figure is likely to be higher, given most people's reluctance to reveal their losses. The Dreaded Direct Question (Please have a glass of water within reach before reading this article.)Your personal financial planning is the topic of discussion here today, but not quite yet.
|
