Friday, July 15, 2011

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: ETFs hold overlooked risks for... | utterbackpac | Social-Bookmarking.Net | Blurpalicious

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: ETFs hold overlooked risks for... | utterbackpac | Social-Bookmarking.Net | Blurpalicious

Exchange traded funds, mutual fund-like baskets of securities that trade like stocks, possess hidden downsides that could hit unaware investors, the North American Securities Administrators Association cautioned Monday.

The NASAA, an organization of the states’ top securities regulators, is

most concerned about two relatively new types of ETFs that are designed to either invest using borrowed money — leveraged ETFs — or to move in the opposite direction of a market or index — inverse ETFs.”These exotic ETFS are beyond the ability of mom and pops to evaluate or hold,” says David Massey, president of the NASAA.

The NASAA advisory comes amid soaring popularity of ETFs, which are winning favor with investors because, while they can diversify a portfolio like a mutual fund, they can be bought and sold during the day.

Yet, despite ETFs’ popularity, regulators worry investors don’t understand the risks. They’re hoping to get ahead of future problems by issuing warnings:

•Structure. Many inverse ETFs are marketed to bearish investors as a way to bet against the broad market. Likewise, many leveraged ETFs are sold as ways for investors to take extra-large bets when they’re bullish. However, most of these ETFs are adjusted each day, prompting investors to rack up taxable gains, the NASAA says.

•Fees. ETFs are best known for being less costly than mutual funds, but investors often overlook other costs, including the difference between the price they pay to buy the ETFs and the sell price. Additionally, investors may rack up trading commissions if they trade ETFs frequently.

•Risk of closure. Given the jump in the number of ETFs, many will not survive, and investors may find themselves paying redemption fees or having the money tied up while funds are returned.

Closures haven’t been a big issue, though, as just one ETF has closed this year, and another six have announced closures, in the universe of 1,280 ETFs and related investments, says Morningstar’s Robert Goldsborough.

It’s ultimately up to do-it-yourself investors to read the prospectuses on all investments, especially complex ones, says Gary Gastineau of ETF Consultants. “If someone just buys” an ETF and doesn’t understand how the leverage works or what investments the ETF owns, they may get “a disappointing result,” he says.

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: ETFs hold overlooked risks for... | utterbackpac | Social-Bookmarking.Net

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: ETFs hold overlooked risks for... | utterbackpac | Social-Bookmarking.Net


One of the fastest-growing and most popular investments on Wall Street is threatening to burn investors unaware of the risks, regulators say.

  • Getty Images/Comstock Images

Getty Images/Comstock Images

Exchange traded funds, mutual fund-like baskets of securities that trade like stocks, possess hidden downsides that could hit unaware investors, the North American Securities Administrators Association cautioned Monday.

The NASAA, an organization of the states’ top securities regulators, is

most concerned about two relatively new types of ETFs that are designed to either invest using borrowed money — leveraged ETFs — or to move in the opposite direction of a market or index — inverse ETFs.”These exotic ETFS are beyond the ability of mom and pops to evaluate or hold,” says David Massey, president of the NASAA.

The NASAA advisory comes amid soaring popularity of ETFs, which are winning favor with investors because, while they can diversify a portfolio like a mutual fund, they can be bought and sold during the day.

Yet, despite ETFs’ popularity, regulators worry investors don’t understand the risks. They’re hoping to get ahead of future problems by issuing warnings:

•Structure. Many inverse ETFs are marketed to bearish investors as a way to bet against the broad market. Likewise, many leveraged ETFs are sold as ways for investors to take extra-large bets when they’re bullish. However, most of these ETFs are adjusted each day, prompting investors to rack up taxable gains, the NASAA says.

•Fees. ETFs are best known for being less costly than mutual funds, but investors often overlook other costs, including the difference between the price they pay to buy the ETFs and the sell price. Additionally, investors may rack up trading commissions if they trade ETFs frequently.

•Risk of closure. Given the jump in the number of ETFs, many will not survive, and investors may find themselves paying redemption fees or having the money tied up while funds are returned.

Closures haven’t been a big issue, though, as just one ETF has closed this year, and another six have announced closures, in the universe of 1,280 ETFs and related investments, says Morningstar’s Robert Goldsborough.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: China data lifts global stocks, Greek crisis bubbles

http://altlanticinternationalpartnership.net/2011/06/altlantic-international-partnership-headlines-china-data-lifts-global-stocks-greek-crisis-bubbles/(Reuters) – Evidence that China may avoid a hard landing for its high-flying economy lifted riskier assets such as stocks on Tuesday although investors remained on edge about the deepening Greek debt crisis.
Fresh from being downgraded by S&P to just above default, Greece was set to sell six-month treasury bills later in the day in what will be a clear test of investors’ view of the country’s short-term prospects.
The cost of insuring Greek debt against default rose as did the yield on Greek government bonds. Greek stocks fell 1 percent, but European shares were otherwise buoyant.
Euro zone finance ministers were to meet in Brussels where the crisis and the disagreement between Germany and the European Central Bank over whether Greece should restructure will take centre stage.
For the time being, however, financial markets focused on data from China which was interpreted as negating the need for aggressive tightening by policymakers.
China’s inflation accelerated in May to a 34-month-high of 5.5 percent, while retail sales came in marginally higher than forecast and industrial output was slightly lower.
Although a little above expectations, the inflation data suggested Chinese price rises were not out of control and that growth is being managed.
After the data, China’s central bank increased the reserve requirement ratio for its commercial lenders by another 50 basis points, its sixth increase this year, extending its campaign to tame inflation.
“A measured slowdown in the Chinese economy is just what investors want, with today’s figures providing some hope that this is just what is unfolding,” said Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
World stocks as measured by MSCI were up 0.6 percent while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 gained 0.9 percent.
Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei closed barely changed from the previous day.
BUOYANT EURO
Greece’s trials did little to discourage investors from buying the euro, which rose more than a quarter a percent against the dollar to $1.4458 .
Despite the debt crisis, the euro has climbed 8 percent against the dollar this year, nearly 7 percent against the yen and 2.5 percent against the pound .
This is primarily on the back of different expectations for interest rate rises. The ECB is expected to tighten policy for the second time this year in July while the U.S. economy is struggling, pointing to a continued period of ultra-low interest rates there.
“Clearly the markets are very concerned about the U.S. economy and the U.S. debt situation itself,” said Greg Gibbs, strategist at RBS. “Those are the key factors preventing what would normally be a bigger fallout, given the amount of risk around the European situation.”
Yields on core euro zone debt rose slightly with 10-year German Bunds offering 2.98 percent. Greece’s 10 year bond yield climbed 4 basis points to 17.14 percent .

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Nuclear power struggling in post-Fukushima world

http://altlanticinternationalpartnership.net/2011/06/altlantic-international-partnership-headlines-nuclear-power-struggling-in-post-fukushima-world/
A number of countries have shelved their nuclear power in the wake of the nuclear meltdown in Japan.
But Glenna Chair of the Board of Directors of Atomic Ltd., tells BNN the industry is already on the mend – and that many countries will struggle to replace nuclear energy with low-carbon emitting power.
“To have reliable and carbon-free (energy), they are going to really be put to the test,” she says.
John Licata, chief commodity strategist at Blue Phoenix, compares what’s happening with the nuclear industry post-Fukushima to what happened to the oil industry after the Macondo oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico last year.
He says it took less than a year for that industry to meaningfully recover. He sees the tides turning for the nuclear industry by the end of the year, saying he thinks “that the reaction has been quite overblown.”
Tom Adams, independent energy analyst counters, says there is no parallel between the two situations.
“The industry has to go back to the drawing board. People are losing confidence in the technology,” he says.

Atlantic International Partnership Headlines: Feds Sue Bankers Over Fall in Bonds

http://altlanticinternationalpartnership.net/2011/06/atlantic-international-partnership-headlines-despite-setback-plaintiffs-to-pursue-wal-mart-cases/
Federal regulators accused J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC of duping five large credit unions into buying more than $3 billion in mortgage bonds that were “destined to perform poorly,” and that quickly sank the credit unions.
The two civil lawsuits filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., by the National Credit Union Administration are the most aggressive move yet by U.S. regulators to recover losses from Wall Street firms for alleged wrongdoing before and during the financial crisis.
Many of the nation’s 7,000 credit unions, which play a critical role

Atlantic International Partnership Funding Group Builder Stocks Fall as Home Price Decline Persists

http://www.blochure.com/atlantic-international-partnership-funding-group-builder-stocks-fall-as-home-price-decline-persists-3542/

Shares of homebuilders slipped Tuesday after a closely watched housing index showed that home prices are falling in most major U.S. cities.
By The Associated Press.  From www.businessweek.com news articles.
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Analysts expect further price declines heading into the summer season, which could further slow the recovery for an industry which is coming off the worst two years for home construction dating to 1959.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday shows that home prices dropped in 19 cities from December to January, the sixth consecutive month that the index fell. A majority of the metro areas tracked by the index now have home prices at levels dating back to 2003, just as the housing boom began. In four cities -- Atlanta, Las Vegas, Detroit and Cleveland -- home values are at their lowest point in 11 years.
The report followed a Commerce Department announcement on Friday that new-home sales plunged in February for the third month in a row.
However, an analyst with KeyBanc Capital Markets found some positive news in the S&P/Case-Shiller report. With seasonal adjustments factored in, just 12 of the 20 cities in the index experienced month-over-month price declines, compared with 19 of 20 cities three months earlier, analyst Kenneth Zener said in a research note.
Zener said that statistic suggests that a partial recovery is under way. However, he expects home prices to continue declining on a month-to-month basis into June, "as sellers court tepid buyers amid a still-large supply of inventory."
The housing market has recently been slower to recover than other areas of the economy, in part due to the expiration of government programs to spur more homebuying. Zener said he doesn't expect further government moves to encourage buying through tax credits. However, he expects indirect government support to continue through lending agencies, loan modification programs, and government purchases of mortgage-backed securities.
Shares of Lennar Corp. saw the steepest decline among major homebuilder stocks, dropping 68 cents, or 3.4 percent, to close at $19.07. Lennar on Tuesday posted a surprise fiscal first-quarter profit, but also reported that it delivered fewer homes and saw a decline in new home orders.
A look at the performance of other major homebuilder stocks:
D.R. Horton Inc. lost 20 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $11.95.
MDC Holdings Inc. fell 53 cents, or about 2 percent, to $25.84.
KB Home declined 25 cents, or 2 percent, to $12.94.
Ryland Group Inc. dropped 30 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $16.41.
Standard Pacific Corp. fell 9 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $3.74.
Toll Brothers Inc. fell 4 cents to $20.44, while PulteGroup Inc. dipped a penny to $7.65.
Meritage Homes Corp. rose 8 cents to $24.27. Beazer Homes USA Inc. slipped 3 cents to $4.66 and Hovanian Enterprises Inc. lost 3 cents to $3.58.
Meanwhile, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index finished up 0.7 percent on the day.

Atlantic International Partnership Madrid - How come my tracker fund is volatile?

http://www.widepr.com/press_release/13454/atlantic_international_partnership_madrid_how_come_my_tracker_fund_is_volatile.html
Traders are usually piling cash into tracker funds, with a lot more purchased in 2010 compared with any year over the last 10 years.
Atlantic International Partnership (AIP) offers a comprehensive service giving you, AIP investors and entrepreneurs access to Marketplaces in your region and around the World.
AIP investors are uniquely dynamic individuals or groups of individuals. AIP investors invest their capital in new or early stage companies. We have found that AIP investors are not a source of capital alone but we have found them to make excellent mentors. As most AIP investors are in fact successful entrepreneurs or business people themselves we have found that they are able to offer entrepreneurs advice and helpful suggestions based on the experience that they have accumulated from their own businesses.
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Traders tend to be attracted by the cheaper tracker funds and the majority believe they provide the less risky alternative, because as their name indicates, they observe stocks in an entire index, instead of attempting to choose winning trades.
Nonetheless, they are often more volatile compared with what investors believe.
Followers feel they may be greater than those manage by account professionals since people won't be able to constantly beat the stock market trading.
Over 2 / 3 of funds frequently don't overcome the index of the stock exchange they may be committed to.
An excellent manager could nevertheless beat a tracker. The most effective in the UK Almost all Firms are very well in advance, using the L&G UK Alpha fund providing dividends of 98.5% over 5 years as the finest tracker, the HSBC FTSE 250, just delivered 28.9%.
Nonetheless within the similar interval the actual toughest tracker still generated 4%, as the worst fund run by a broker, the Rathbone Recovery, shed a stunning 52.6%.
Results via information gurus Morningstar display the common tracker fund profit inside the UK Companies field ended up being 15.2% in the last 5 years. This comes even close to a standard profit of 11.4% regarding funds having a broker.
Spending fewer for your account is among the essential offering factors.
As they do not require associated with professionals, economists or even strategists, the price of operating these will always be reduced.
Frequently they don’t have any advance charges and possess a yearly charge of between 0.25% and 1% annually. Funds having a broker can hold the heading charge of 1% to at least 1.5% per year.
However the correct charges may be substantially increased. The standard Total Costs Percentage, which includes additional expenses for instance attorney's fees, will be 1.68%, but tend to be a little more than 2%.
The notion that the UK tracker is founded on domestic title blue chip firms will be extensive from the mark, nevertheless.
The current FTSE one hundred index provides names numerous will likely have never heard about, such as, Vedanta Resources and Intertek Group.
Over of the FTSE one hundred consists of financial institutions as well as insurance agencies and nearly is made up of gas and oil companies.
Mark Dampier, head of study at financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown claims this could reveal investors to serious situations.
He explained: 'If underneath is lost from the product industry the FTSE would probably drop in a way. The FTSE 100 will be operated at this time through mining and oils, which mean you, continue to obtain the extremes and you're simply using a trend.'
Here at AIP Madrid we appreciate that each and every individual investor is a uniquely complex person. It’s our belief in this that has led us develop a widely recognised innovative investment philosophy. At AIP we believe that our methodology can significantly increase the success of our private clients investments.
Atlantic International Partnership’s philosophy of investment brings together our thorough assessment of prospective investors with our advanced portfolio building programs. Altogether this allows us to provide tailor made solutions designed to deliver the right performance for each client. These AIP investor profiles allow us to provide the confidence needed between a client and their advisor, helping to make the right decisions in both the good times and the turbulent times. This leads to improved results in performance over the long-term.