Markit

The Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLE), the largest equity-based exchange-traded fund tracking the energy sector, is up nearly 12 percent over the past month. XLE's exploration and production and more volatile counterpart, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Prod. (ETF) (...

Equity-based funds have been the primary drivers of growth in the booming exchange-traded funds industry. This year, fixed-income funds are taking on the role of growth driver for the ETF business. Swelling assets under management tallies for bond ETFs have been buoyed by investors' thirst for...

The UK, essentially the second-best dividend market after the United States, could see payouts pinched, as some FTSE 100 companies struggle to generate cash to cover current dividends and boost those payouts. With energy and materials names looking like the most egregious offenders, the FTSE 100,...

In the United States, it is widely believed that dividend stocks, particularly consistent dividend growers, perform better than dividend offenders and stocks that do not pay dividends during market downturns. Unfortunately, that conventional wisdom has been defied in developing economies, as...

Year to date, Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index is down almost 11 percent, and over the past six months, it is down nearly 19 percent. Therefore, it probably is not surprising that short sellers are sinking their teeth into Hong Kong-listed stocks. Global investors' lack of enthusiasm...

The Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) (NYSE: XLE) is down 10.7 percent year-to-date, which is obviously a poor showing, but in a sign of just how poorly stocks are performing this year, XLE is not the worst of the nine established sector SPDR ETFs. XLE is tied for third-worst with the Materials...

A flattening yield curve and diminishing expectations that the Federal Reserve will be able to raise interest rates multiple times this year are among the factors dragging on U.S. bank stocks and the relevant exchange-traded funds. If higher interest rates really are efficacious for bank stocks,...

Believe it or not, the iShares MSCI Brazil Index (ETF) (NYSE: EWZ) has traded higher over the past month and currently resides nearly 13 percent above its 52-week low. That does not mean the largest Brazil exchange-traded fund and its peers are out of the woods, but some market observers are...

First, a personal anecdote to explain the NFL/ETF analogy that follows here. Several years ago, I was watching a professional football game with my uncle, a voracious NFL fan, when I mentioned a player (I don't remember who it was) that was a great college football player but never made it in...

Parse through the top asset-gathering, equity-based exchange-traded funds for a particular year, and it is unlikely that multiple sector funds appear, but that anecdote belies the rising popularity of sector ETFs. Sector ETFs have gained popularity among advisors and investors looking for more...

Coming into 2016, it was widely expected that S&P 500 dividend growth would slow relative to the breakneck pace seen over the past several years. Some of that trend was evident in the first month of the year. “For the 12-month period ended January 2016, payers were down 7.31 percent, vs....

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) and the corresponding exchange-traded funds faced a trying environment in 2015, as investors anticipated the Federal Reserve's first interest rate increase in nearly a decade, but that environment has rapidly changed in 2016 as investors' search for...

As global equity markets have seen increased turbulence to start 2016, investors have been running to safe-haven destinations. That includes exchange-traded funds holding U.S. government bonds. Professional investors are expected to boost their usage of fixed-income ETFs with nearly two-thirds...

Global equity markets have been confounded by volatility this year, prompting investors to seek safe-haven assets. One region advisors and investors may currently be viewing as somewhat risky is developed Europe, particularly since European Central Bank President Mario Draghi disappointed global...

On Monday, 13 exchange-traded funds hit 52-week lows and four, or nearly a third, were financial services funds. Members of that dubious quartet were ETFs with significant exposure to regional banks, an industry that has seen rapidly eroding share prices in recent weeks. The SPDR KBW Regional...