The Sun's Financial Diary

Then rotate them with Claymore/Zecks Country Rotation ETF (CRO). Last month, Claymore Securities launched a new international ETF that tracks Zecks Country Rotation Index (ZAXCR). According Zecks Investment Research, the index uses countries that are components of the MSCI EAFE Index. Currently, the index consists of 200 stocks from countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, [...]

Vanguard launched a new international equity ETF on July 26, 2007. The latest offering, Vanguard Europe Pacific ETF (VEA), tracks Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Europe, Australasia, Far East (EAFE) Index. The index comprises 21 developed economies (PDF file) outside of North America, including Japan, United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, [...]

As we are approaching the half-year mark, do you plan to do any adjustment of your portfolio? I usually don’t make any change on our investments in the middle of the year. Any rebalancing will happen when the full year ends as I always feel the stock markets will do better in the second half [...]

The world of water investment is getting crowded. Yesterday, PowerShares launched five new international equity ETFs, and one of them is PowerShares Global Water Portfolio (PIO), one month after two offerings from Claymore Securities and First Trust Advisors. The new water ETF tracks the Palisades Global Water Index (PIIWI). According to AMEX, The Palisades Global [...]

If you are asked to build a portfolio with the least number of funds but broad enough to provide the diversification you need, how many funds do you need? Essentially, I think I will need only two funds: a total stock market fund that covers the entire equity market, US and foreign, and a total [...]

Not long ago, investors who are looking for investment opportunities in blue gold, water that is, could find themselves facing very limited choices other than individual stocks as there are only a couple of water related indexes and the only practical choice seems to be the only water related ETF, PowerShares Water Resources ETF (PHO), [...]

I like the idea of letting money work for me on its own. One way to do that is buying equities that generate dividends. Last year, about 10% of our gains are from dividends, capital gains, and interests. Since long-term qualified dividends are taxed at a much lower rate (at most 15%) than short-term capital [...]

Early last week, Morningstar has an article cautioning investors on bond ETFs. With the recent introduction of four Vanguard bond ETFs, it can be expected that investors will look into these new ETF offerings when building their portfolios. However, the article, Think Twice Before Investing in Bond ETFs by Paul Herbert, reminds investors that there [...]