Fidelity Increases Commission-Free ETFs to 31

Consumers everywhere agree – price wars are the best wars on the planet.  The ETF trading commission price war makes ETF investors happy and their wallets a little thicker.  Fidelity today (2/16/11) announced the addition of five more iShares ETFs to its $0 commission lineup.  This brings the total quantity of commission-free ETFs for Fidelity’s online customers to 31, consisting of Fidelity’s own Nasdaq Composite Tracking Stock (ONEQ) and 30 iShares products.

The complete list of iShares with free online trading at Fidelity now includes these ETFs:

• iShares iBoxx Yield Corporate Bond (HYG)
• iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend (DVY)
• iShares Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend (IDV)
• iShares Dow Jones Real Estate (IYR)
• iShares MSCI ACWI ex US (ACWX)

Sixteen months ago, the first salvo in this war was yet to be fired.  Today four major players have a lot at stake.  The history is brief but eventful:

Schwab Creates Watershed Event with Commission-Free ETFs on 11/3/09 by launching its first ETFs and introducing commission-free trading.  Schwab has since extended its lineup several times.

Fidelity responded three months later on 2/2/10 by teaming up with iShares to offer 26 Commission-Free ETFs at Fidelity while lowering commissions on other ETFs.  Fidelity expanded its menu today.

Vanguard Entered the ETF Free Trading War three months later (5/4/10) by making its own line of ETFs available to Vanguard Brokerage customers without commissions.  Vanguard continues to aggressively launch new ETFs with no commissions for its brokerage customers.

The Launch of Ameritrade’s ETF Supermarket on 10/8/10 was the most sweeping to date, including eight different sponsors and 101 ETFs and ETNs.

Disclosure I am Long HYG shares. 

Deutsche Tweaks Currency-Hedged ETFs

Deutsche Bank updated papers it originally filed with U.S. regulators in the fall to reflect new tickers and planned fees for five passive international equity ETFs from developed and developing countries alike that share a currency-hedging feature aimed at stabilizing returns.

In the new filing, the company also provided additional detail regarding the composition of the family of MSCI FX Hedge indices that will serve as benchmarks to the various funds.

The derivative-based strategy behind the ETFs is to isolate returns of the underlying equities, while eliminating as much as possible the impact of currency fluctuations on those returns, the filing said. The hedging mechanism designed to offset the exposure to local currencies is achieved through the use of forward currency contracts.

The strategy adds a new wrinkle to what has traditionally been a case of either avoiding emerging market currency risks by choosing dollar-denominated funds or investing in ETFs in foreign currencies to benefit from the weakening dollar.

Deutsche Bank’s strategy comes at a time of heightened uncertainty in the global economy. Central banks of developed economies are all engaged in, or prepared to launch, unprecedented monetary policy experiments aimed at controlling deflationary pressures to reverse the deepest downturn since the 1930s.

The respective tickers, fees and holdings of Deutsche’s five ETFs are:

• DBX MSCI Emerging Markets Currency-Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBEM), 0.65 percent. DBEM will invests in some 800 securities in 21 emerging economies that include Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey. Holdings have an average market capitalization of $4.9 billion.

• DBX MSCI EAFE Currency-Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBEF), 0.35 percent. DBEF will tap into 22 developed nations excluding the U.S. in a portfolio that has almost 1,000 holdings with an average market capitalization of $11.43 billion.

• DBX MSCI Brazil Currency-Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBBR), 0.60 percent. DBBR’s portfolio comprises some 81 securities with an average market capitalization of $7.66 billion.

• DBX MSCI Canada Currency-Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBCN), 0.50 percent. DBCN includes 100 holdings with an average market capitalization of $13 billion.

• DBX MSCI Japan Currency-Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBJP), 0.50 percent. DBJP’s portfolio will consist of some 340 securities with an average market capitalization of $7.2 billion.

Disclosure I do not own any of these funds with no plans to buy any at this time.

I sure should have looked the other way on the day I bought this stock.............

Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky, LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas on behalf of a class (the “Class”) of investors who purchased Life Partners Holdings, Inc. (“LPHI” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:LPHI - News) common stock between the period of May 29, 2007 through January 20, 2011.

The Complaint alleges LPHI and certain of its officers and directors with violating federal securities laws by failing to disclose that: (i) the Company had routinely used unrealistic life expectancy data that produced inaccurate short life expectancy reports, which were used to sell life settlement policies to investors; (ii) the Company had purposely concealed the historical rate in which individuals insured by life settlement policies sold by Life Partners had lived past the life expectancy rates previously provided to investors, such that the Company’s investors were unable to assess the accuracy or reliability of such data; (iii) that by underestimating life expectancy data to investors, the Company was able to charge substantially larger fees when brokering life settlement policies; and (iv) that the Company’s reported revenues had been inaccurately inflated through the employment of such business practice.

As a result, the Company’s statements concerning LPHI’s business prospects and financial performance were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On December 21, 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported that Life Partners “has made large fees from its life-insurance transactions while often significantly underestimating the life expectancies” of insured individuals. On January 20, 2011, Life Partners confirmed an SEC investigation of Life Partners.

In a reaction to this news, shares of LPHI common stock fell $2.58 per share to close on January 20, 2011 at $12.46 per share, representing a drop of more than 17%.

If you purchased LPHI common stock between May 29, 2007 through January 20, 2011 and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this action, you must move the Court no later than April 4, 2011. Any member of the proposed class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain a member of the proposed class.

If you would like to discuss this action or if you have any questions concerning this notice or your rights as a potential class member or lead plaintiff, you may contact: Jack G. Fruchter or Arthur J. Chen of Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky, LLP toll free at (800) 440-8986, or via e-mail at info@aftlaw.com or achen@aftlaw.com.

Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky, LLP has extensive experience in securities class action cases, and the firm has been ranked among the leading class action law firms in terms of recoveries achieved by a survey of class action law firms conducted by Institutional Shareholder Services.

Disclosure I am long LPHI shares and will ride it out that is how I play the Game. Hiding my bp shares lol.

Vanguard Cuts VWO Cost To 0.22%

Vanguard Group, the No. 3 U.S. ETF firm whose Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO) surpassed the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSEArca: EEM) as the biggest U.S. emerging markets ETF last month, cut the annual expense ratio on the popular fund by 5 basis points to 0.22 percent to reflect the growing size of the fund.

VWO, now a $45.47 billion fund, became the biggest U.S. ETF on Jan. 18, largely because it is the cheaper of the two funds. EEM, the iShares fund, now costs investors 0.69 percent, having dropped its expense ratio from 0.72 percent at the start of 2001. iShares cut fees on EEM for the same reason, as the fund grew by more than $2 billion in 2010. Vanguard’s VWO, meanwhile, grew by almost $20 billion.

The lower price, plus better performance, had led many in the ETF industry to conclude for the better part of a year that it was only a matter of time before VWO overtook EEM. The iShares ETF is now a $39 billion fund. Emerging markets were immensely popular among investors in 2010, though civil unrest in Egypt has slowed the fund.

A Vanguard official told IndexUniverse.com about VWO’s latest fee cut this week on the sidelines of the “4^th Annual Inside ETFs Conference” in Hollywood, Florida.

Disclosure I am long VWO shares. 

New Weeks Hot action DCA on yet another week

Well hello I spend the better part of the week hunting looking and examining my current holdings to determine what is to be done this week for my sharebuilder tuesday investing day. I am still using the $12.00 per month 12 trade plan so my trading fees run approx. $144.00 a year, which includes 144 buy chances at $1.00 per trade try to beat that with a stick.

So first I am taking a initial plunge into TPZ Tortoise Power n Energy Infrastructure. Currently has approx 7 million shares outstanding. Was created on 07/29/2009, with average daily volume of 1.25 million a day. Inception price was $20.00 per share with a NAV of $19.50 per share, today the price is $23.62 witha  nav of $24.97. The thing the really knocked my socks off not the monthly dividend of 6.35% or 12.5 cents per month per share of stock owned, no not any of that it was the amazing fee of a mere .60 basis points oh my that is sweet. Go try and get a MLP (master limited partnership) for anywhere near that cost.

Top 10 Holdings (as of 10/31/10)
Percentage of
Holding(1) Investment Securities(2)
Kinder Morgan Management, LLC (equity) 8.6%
Enbridge Energy Management, L.L.C. (equity) 8.4%
Inergy, L.P. (equity) 3.8%
Midcontinent Express Pipeline LLC (fixed income) 3.3%
NRG Energy, Inc. (fixed income) 3.2%
PPL Capital Funding, Inc. (fixed income) 2.9%
TransCanada Pipelines Limited (fixed income) 2.9%
Source Gas LLC (fixed income) 2.8%
Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (equity) 2.7%
Dominion Resources Inc (equity) 2.7%

So I will buy a single share to get warmed up in this name and will buy more along da way as I seem fit. I truly enjoy recieving many dividends each month sure makes compounding real easy to see working.

Buy #2  CTL CenturyLink, Inc. adding $15 to my Current Holding. Up 24.12% on this holding.

CenturyLink, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated communications company. The company provides a range of communications services, including local and long distance voice, wholesale network access, high-speed Internet access, other data services, and video services in the continental United States. Its services include local exchange and long distance voice telephone services, as well as enhanced voice services, such as call forwarding, conference calling, caller identification, selective call ringing, and call waiting; network access services; data services, including high-speed Internet access services, and data transmission services over special circuits and private lines; and fiber transport, competitive local exchange carrier, security monitoring services, other communications, and professional and business information services.

The company also offers other related services, such as leasing, selling, installing, and maintaining customer premise telecommunications equipment and wiring; provides billing and collection services to third parties; participates in the publication of local telephone directories; and provides printing, database management, direct mail services, and cable television services. In addition, the company provides network database services, as well as switched digital video services and wireless broadband Internet services. As of December 31, 2009, it operated approximately 7.0 million telephone access lines. The company was formerly known as CenturyTel, Inc. and changed its name to CenturyLink, Inc. in May 2010. CenturyLink, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is based in Monroe, Louisiana.

Buy #3 IID Ing Intl High Div Equity Inc. adding $15 to my Current Holding. Up 10.46% on this holding.

The Fund seeks current income with long term capital appreciation by investment in dividend producing securities or derivatives and through utilizing an options strategy.

ing international High Dividend Equity Income Fund (the Fund) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's primary investment objective is to seek current income and current gains, with a secondary objective of long-term capital appreciation. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objectives by investing at least 80% of its managed assets in dividend-producing equity securities of foreign companies and/or derivatives linked to such securities or indices that include such securities, and by selling call options on selected international, regional or country equity indices or futures, and/or on foreign securities.

Securities of foreign companies includes securities issued by companies that are organized under the laws of, or with principal offices in, a country other than the United States, or whose principal securities trading markets are outside the United States. The Fund's investment advisor is ING Investments, LLC.

4th and final purchase for the 16th is the etf PFF, also adding $15.00 to this one too. Currently up 2.49% to date,  iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index.

The investment seeks to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock index. The fund invest at least 90% of assets in securities that comprise the index. The index measures the performance of a select group of preferred stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, or NASDAQ. It includes companies with a market capitalization over $100 million. The fund is nondiversified. Expense ratio is a mere .48 basis points.

FORD CAP TRST II	3.58%
BARCLAYS BANK PLC	3.36%
BANK OF AMERICA CORP	2.38%
WELLS FARGO & CO	2.35%
MERRILL LYNCH & CO INC	2.22%
METLIFE INC	1.93%
WELLS FARGO CAP	1.92%
JPMORGAN CHASE CAPITAL XXVI	1.84%
BARCLAYS BANK PLC	1.79%
HSBC HOLDINGS PLC	1.75%
Total	23.11%

Big dividend this week was KMP other dividends this week were JNK,ABT,IGD,IID,PG and the O. Finished out da week up 0.92% not including dividends. Also purchased one cd for $15.76 a 6 month 1.00% cd. That is it for da week.

When 'Cheap' ETFs Aren't Really Cheap

It seems like a no-brainer: All things being equal, you pick the exchange-traded fund with the cheapest fees. But, it turns out choosing an ETF based on the lowest annual expense could end up costing you more.

ETFs, of course, hold a basket of stocks or other investments and track an index. Many investors buy them assuming that all they’ll pay is the annual fee. But a growing number of pros are warning that some ETFs have hidden costs for trading them, which vary based on the ETF’s volume. In general, the more active the ETF, the cheaper it is to trade. “The bigger, the better,” says Jim Holtzman, a Pittsburgh-based adviser who has sought better ETF deals.

The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index fund (EEM: 37.75, +0.16, +0.42%) has $35 billion in assets and is nearly three times more expensive than its rival ETF, the $20.5 bil­lion Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF (VWO: 38.30, +0.08, +0.20%). But traders flock to the older iShares product because it has almost six times the average daily trading volume. “EEM is essentially where the fast money is,” says Bradley Kay, associate director of European ETF research at Morningstar. A Vanguard spokesperson says its ETFs’ trading costs are the same as or very close to those of its rivals. A big difference in trading volume can also be seen in two ETFs tracking the same index of inflation-protected bonds, iShares Barclays TIPS Bond (TIP: 105.82, -0.20, -0.18%) and SPDR Barclays Capital TIPS (IPE: 52.27, -0.12, -0.22%). The expense ratio of the iShares product is slightly higher than that of its competitor. But experts say iShares trades 18 times more often in part because each trade is cheaper.

While trading costs are important, Kay says investors who plan to buy and hold an ETF should go with the one that has the lowest expense ratio.

Disclosure I am long VWO, and EEM.

The Second Quarter's Best and Worst Commodities

Quick! Name the best-performing single-commodity exchange-traded product (ETP) of the second quarter.
No, it's not a gold trust; the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE Arca: GLD) came in third. It's actually the exchange-traded note tracking coffee's price, the iPath DJ-UBS Coffee Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSE Arca: JO).
Surprised?
Well, the second quarter was full of surprises for commodity investors. Unfortunately, most of them were unpleasant.
Of 17 single-commodity or narrowly focused products, only four turned a profit. The winners netted an average 12.1 percent gain, while the average loser gave up 9.9 percent.
We sought out the most liquid single-commodity ETPs to see how well they tracked the spot market over the last three months. When we couldn't find single-commodity ETPs to represent a sector of the futures market, we used the narrowest instruments; that is, two or three commodities wide.
Overall, ETPs—based upon their last sale prices—did a fair job of tracking spot market commodities. The average apparent return for the 17 ETPs was -4.7 percent, while the contemporaneous mean return for the underlying spot commodities was -2.7 percent.
But let's run the numbers asset by asset.
Precious Metals

Commodity	Spot Gain/ (Loss)	Futures Term Structure	ETP Ticker	ETP Type	ETP Gain/ Loss	+/- 200-Day Average
CMX Gold	11.7%	Normal	GLD	TST	11.7%	8.1%
CMX Silver	6.2%	Normal	SLV	TST	6.2%	5.5%
NYMX Platinum	-8.0%	Normal	PTM	ETN	-7.2%	-4.6%
NYMX Palladium	-8.0%	Normal	PALL	TST	-7.5%	-6.8%

Key: TST = Grantor Trust; ETN = Exchange-Traded Note

Gold and silver grantor trusts topped the precious metals group in the second quarter, partly because the trusts hold metal and aren't based upon a futures index. Of course, the underlying commodities increased over the period, but the product didn't get in the way of the gain's realization.
In a normal futures market, carrying charges—financing costs, storage charges and insurance fees—build up along the futures term structure to make contracts for deferred delivery more expensive than futures for near-term delivery. This condition, often referred to as contango, is expected when there's ample supply of a storable commodity.
An inverted market, on the other hand, exists when deferred deliveries are priced below nearby ones. A dearth of storable supply is usually the culprit.
Normal markets are costly for holders of ETPs based upon long-only futures indexes. In order to maintain exposure to the commodity, futures positions must be rolled forward as contracts approach expiry. In a normal market, that means higher-priced contracts will be purchased with the proceeds from lower-priced futures sales. This incremental loss—or negative roll yield—eats into returns.
That said, the slight disparity in the palladium trust's return vs. spot is a liquidity artifact. The last sale prices reported on the tape don't necessarily reflect the current markets for ETPs. The less actively an ETP trades, the greater the discrepancy between the last sale price and the current bid/offer spread.
This should be kept in mind when considering the apparent returns of light-volume exchange-traded notes.
Base Metals

Commodity	Spot Gain/ (Loss)	Futures Term Structure	ETP Ticker	ETP Type	ETP Gain/ Loss	+/- 200-Day Average
CMX Copper	-18.0%	Normal	JJC	ETN	-19.1%	-11.4%
LME Lead	-18.6%	Normal	LD	ETN	-18.9%	-18.5%
LME Nickel	-19.1%	Normal	JJN	ETN	-23.5%	-8.2%

Key: ETN = Exchange-Traded Note

The market for industrial metals was weak in the second quarter, reflecting the slackened demand for durable goods and housing. The apparent spread between the ETP returns and the spot market is, again, due to timing and contango.
Energy

Commodity	Spot Gain/ (Loss)	Futures Term Structure	ETP Ticker	ETP Type	ETP Gain/ Loss	+/- 200-Day Average
NYMX Crude Oil	-9.6%	Normal	USO	ETF	-9.8%	-9.8%
NYMX Gasoline	-10.3%	Inverted/Normal	UGA	ETF	-5.8%	-5.8%
NYMX Heating Oil	-2.9%	Normal	UHN	ETF	-6.0%	-6.0%
NYMX Natural Gas	19.8%	Normal	UNG	ETF	12.2%	-8.7%

Key: ETF = Exchange-Traded Fund

Natural gas turned in the standout performance in the energy category, though deep contango in the futures term structure ate up a lot of the spot market gain. Carrying charges seemed to have also reduced the returns for the heating oil and crude oil exchange-trade funds. The large disparity between the gasoline ETF's return and its spot market is due to gasoline's unstable term structure over the second quarter.
Softs

Commodity	Spot Gain/ (Loss)	Futures Term Structure	ETP Ticker	ETP Type	ETP Gain/ Loss	+/- 200-Day Average
ICE Coffee	21.5%	Normal/Inverted	JO	ETN	-18.5%	17.1%
ICE Cocoa	-0.4%	Normal	NIB	ETN	-1.2%	-4.9%
ICE Cotton	-5.1%	Inverted/Normal	BAL	ETN	-3.0%	-0.2%
ICE Sugar	-3.3%	Inverted/Normal	SGG	ETN	-7.0%	-23.4%

Key: ETN = Exchange-Traded Note

Among the softs, coffee was the clear winner. Still, soft ETNs are lightly traded, so the differences between the products' apparent returns and their underlying markets can seem large.
Grains

Commodity	Spot Gain/ (Loss)	Futures Term Structure	ETP Ticker	ETP Type	ETP Gain/ Loss	+/- 200-Day Average
CBOT Corn, Wheat, Soybeans	0.7%*	Normal/Inverted	JJG	ETN	-0.7%	-6.1%

Key: ETN = Exchange-Traded Note

*Spot returns are composites weighted by the constituent commodities' ETP allocations

Grains—in particular, corn and wheat—jumped on the last day of the quarter following U.S. Department of Agriculture reports of lighter-than-expected plantings.

Livestock

Commodity	Spot Gain/ (Loss)	Futures Term Structure	ETP Ticker	ETP Type	ETP Gain/ Loss	+/- 200-Day Average
CME Live Cattle, Lean Hogs	-0.3%*	Normal/Inverted	COW	ETN	-3.4%	-0.8%

Key: ETN = Exchange-Traded Note

*Spot returns are composites weighted by the constituent commodities' ETP allocations

While grain prices broke to the upside, livestock prices spent most of the quarter backing off from the parabolic run-ups of the previous year.
The Final Tally
In the first quarter, 75 percent of single-commodity and narrowly focused ETPs were winners. The platinum and palladium products were the top performers, along with the livestock ETN. But in the second quarter, the situation reversed: Losers outnumbered winners by better than 3-to-1. Coffee led the way in the second quarter, followed by natural gas.
The worst performers in the year's second stanza were the industrial metals—lead, copper and nickel. In the first quarter, sugar, natural gas and grains brought up the rear.
While there's been jockeying for best and worst honors, gold and silver take the prize for consistency in the first half.

Disclosure I am Long GLD n SLV shares

Fee disclosure is coming to your 401(k)

Investors lost a battle this week, but the war isn't over. Lawmakers in the Senate decided to drop a measure that would have forced the 401(k) industry to disclose fees to participants. But that's OK, because the numbers still favor retirement savers.

There are 50 million 401(k) participants who deserve to know how much they are paying for their retirement account. By contrast, there are just a few dozen lawmakers and few dozen lobbying groups that don't want 401(k) investors to know just how much things cost.

Disney to buy Marvel for $4 billion

The Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it has agreed to purchase comic book and action hero company Marvel Entertainment for about $4 billion.

The deal pairs a comic book publisher that just recently began to produce its own movies with one of the largest international media companies in the world.

"This is perfect from a strategic perspective," Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger told CNNMoney.com. "This treasure trove of over 5,000 characters offers Disney the ability to do what we do best."

On a conference call with investors, Iger said the deal will allow Disney to sell Marvel's vast array of characters and properties across different media platforms and in many more markets. For instance, Iger said that Disney's Pixar animation unit was excited about the opportunities that a Marvel acquisition could yield.

"Spider-Man will appear in 'A Bug's Life' sequel," joked Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente.

The deal would give Disney some content that appeals more to boys, a market it has been looking to develop, Iger said. Disney XD, a television station and video game unit, already had a deal with Marvel to use some of the comic book company's action heroes in its content.

"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Marvel Chief Executive Ike Perlmutter. "This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world."
0:00 /5:30Disney bets $4 billion on Marvel

Disney Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs noted that Marvel owns the rights to many action-hero characters that are not widely known, which Disney anticipates bringing to the forefront for future movies or TV shows should the deal go through.

If Marvel shareholders approve the deal, they would receive $30 per share in cash and 0.745 shares of Disney for each share of Marvel that they hold. The deal is valued at $50 per Marvel share, more than a 29% premium, based on Friday's closing price.

Disney said it will issue about 59 million shares as a result of a deal, but it will repurchase as many shares over the course of the 12 months following the deal's closing.

Marvel has launched a large number of action-hero movies over the past decade, including "Spider-Man," "X-Men," "The Fantastic Four" and "The Incredible Hulk."

Last summer's "Iron Man" blockbuster earned just under $100 million over three days, the second-best non-sequel opening ever, according to Entertainment Weekly. "Iron Man" was the first Marvel movie to be fully financed and produced by the comic book company.

But Marvel still holds deals with Paramount, Sony and Fox for future movies, including several more Spider-Man films. Marvel chairman Morton Handel estimated that the company has about five more films with Paramount and intends to honor the current contracts it has with other movie studios, even if the Disney deal is inked before the contracts expire.

Marvel pays Paramount, the comic book company's primary movie distributor, between $20 million and $60 million per movie in distribution fees, according to Barton Crockett, analyst at Lazard Capital Markets.

Crockett said Disney would likely become the sole distributor of Marvel's movies in the future, giving it a "full plate" of movie releases, including Pixar, Marvel and its own films.

Shares of Marvel (MVL) soared 26% in morning trading. Shares of Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) were down 3%.

Disclosure NONE

Weekly update on 8 folios and recent transactions, Retire on $5.00 per day each day market open

Well not a lot going on with the buy and selling in my 8 folios but here is a breakdown of my recent activity.

Basic materials folio which includes my commodities picks. Currently I am long 17 picks and will be selling one tomorrow. I am long, IPHS,DO,KWR,TYG,EEQ,BP,KMR,NUE,
GNI,DJP,E,BPT,CVX,SLV,GLD, AND GGN. Combined this folio is up 12.24% year to date not including dividends. I will be selling RJI tomorrow, taking a small 5 to 6 % profit.

In my bonds and closed end fund folio, (fixed income) all pay monthly dividends. I am currently long. IID, DPO, IGD, EOS, MAIN, AOD,ESD,JNK,HYG,PCY,PSEC,LQD, and BND. This folio is up 13.54% year to date. No changes this week.

In my financial and reit folio. I am long 15 stocks. This folio is up 10.10% year to date. Top pick AGNC and AFL, my 2 laggers are ESS and CMO. I just repurchased CMO this week after selling it last week for 34% profit. No other changes.

My consumer goods and consumer services folio, all but shipping stocks. Currently is long 11 stocks. MMM and CALM leaders, with SYY a lagger. This folio is up Year to date 10.94% no changes for this folio either.

My index etf and emerging markets etf folio. Currently long 11 etfs, with FXI and VWO leading the way. Even my lagger EFA is up 7.76%. This folio is up 13.36% year to date.
No changes at this time.

My industrial goods and healthcare folio. Contains 17 picks with CAT and GSK at the clear winners, ABT and ECOL the laggers. This folio is up 10.70% year to date. Recently Purchased CAH which is already up 7.83% since my initial purchase. No other changes.

My shipping and railroad folio. By far the healthiest and hottest folios of all lately. Currently long 14 stocks with CSX, SFL, leading the way, and the laggers are GMR and DHT. This folio is up currently 17.17% year to date. No recent changes to this folio.

And my last folio is my utilities and tech folio. Currently long 15 stocks, with INTC, TEG as the winners. The laggers are CTL and ADP. This folio is currently up 11.81% year to date. No recent changes to this folio at this time.

So my total portfolio consisting of 8 folios is up 12.53% year to date, which does not include dividends. I have received 2.24% in dividends this year to date. I still dollar cost average every single day the market is open. I have not missed one trading day this year. I add $5.00 a day spread across each folio plus reinvest the dividends back to who paid them. If a stock cuts its dividend I sell it period.

My core is 112 stock, etfs and closed end funds. The cream of the crop according to my eyes, my value and my long term holding period. I plan to hold this dividend paying stocks until further notice As I try to spank the shorts of my 401k provided through my employer with Principal Financial Group.

Now to my 401k my work currently matches 50% of the first 6 percent so that is all i put there i put the rest in my above mentioned Roth ira account at Folioinvesting.com.

Currently up year to date in my 401k, 18.81% before fees, god only knows how much they will be. Received $7.82 in dividends year to date, versus $40.29 through june in my roth ira.

In closing I am very excited to be playing the market, living, breathing and smelling the stocks. Dow broke 9000 today I used to watch everyday to see what happened, course i still do but nothing seems to matter now that I have plan and stick to it. My core is built and I am in the accumulate phase of my retirement plan. No matters what happens I have am on this train. I go to the coal mines shovel in hand(aka my work place). Do the best I can and try to add to my folio more money everyday.

Sometime I ponder how this all started with just $ 1.00 a day investing in my favorite stocks, at the start of this year I opened this roth ira and now I am off to the races(LOL). So yes you can retire at just 5.00 a day every day the market is open. Yes I do see some ups and downs in the future. But this is so much better than smoking, drinking, gambling and parting away all my money never having a pot to piss in so to say. Now I can see the light I feel better, look better, am happier and have a pot to piss in now.

Please feel free to comment on this or any of my other stories, I have gathered here on my blog. Only through each other can we prosper together. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog, I only hope I can show the light to one more person out there somewhere.


Disclosure I am long all stock mentioned in this blog as well and many that were not motioned. Please if you do invest do your own research what works for me many not work for all I am not a licensed broker at this time but sure hope to be very soon.

Its over the 401k is DEAD, FAILED, Admit It's Over

Why don't we just admit that the 401(k) is a failure and get on to designing something better?

I say this as the writer of an admiring book about the ubiquitous saving plan (Take Charge of Your Future, Warner Books, 2003), and I still think that 401(k)s are fine as a supplement to other plans. But that's not what they are any more. They have become, by default, the only national retirement savings plan. That raises the bar considerably, and 401(k)s just can't clear it.

Here's what I'm not saying. I'm not saying that the main problem is that 401(k)s require ordinary people to manage their investments wisely and only we "sophisticated" investors who read Huffington Post can do that. (i have more faith in the average Joe's ability look out for himself than that--and less faith in allegedly sophisticated investors.) I am saying that even if every 401(k) participant were Warren Buffett, the plan still falls short of what you ought to expect from the nation's main retirement savings vehicle.

I am not saying that we ought to go back to old fashioned pensions, for good reason, or that you should stop funding your 401(k). You still have to save for retirement and the 401(k), flawed as it is, is the best way we've got to do that. (Especially the Roth 401(k) plan.) I am saying that we should do better. We are asking the 401(k) to play a role for which it was never intended, and we should reshape the plan to fit that role, or get a new plan. Here's what's wrong with the 401(k):

It randomly creates winners and losers. Citizens who take part in a national retirement savings plan ought to know what it takes to succeed. It matters less what the rules are than that they're fair and consistent. If you save more in the plan, you retire with more income. That would be a fine rule. If you earned more in your career, you get more retirement income. That works too. (It had better; it's the Social Security promise.)

But neither necessarily holds true in a 401(k). You could earn the same money, save the same amount, invest as wisely as an identical colleague and still wind up eating the Denny's special while your doppelganger vacations in Greece. It all depends on when in your working life the inevitable market downturn falls. If early, you'll build your nest egg by buying cheap assets and retire rich. If late, you'll find your life savings decimated when it's too late to rebuild. That's a problem. The nation's main retirement funding plan should not be a conduit for administering random acts of fortune. It should aim to alleviate randomness.

The plan leaves people poor Left to their own devices, most employees don't put enough into their 401(k)s to make a dent in their retirement needs. And even if they start out putting enough money in, when times get tough, they stop. Worse still, employers have begun to do the same. According to surveys, about a quarter of employers have stopped, or plan to stop, matching their employees' 401(k) contributions. This is happening at the worst possible time, of course: when stock prices are 40% cheaper than they were 18 months ago.

The plan exposes everyone to the risk that they'll live too long Because you don't know when you'll die, you have to save as if you were Methuselah, just to be safe. The usual financial planner's target is age 95. If you saved the fortune you need to cover yourself to that age and don't make it that far-and most people won't-tough luck. If you do live that long and you didn't save enough-and again, most don't-even tougher luck. The shame of this is, longevity risk can be insured away by averaging out the risk over an entire population. Every annuity does this. Why not the national retirement savings plan?

Congress has been talking extensively about 401(k) reform. At the moment, a bill called the 401(k) Fair Disclosure and Pension Security Act is moving through Congress. But it does nothing more than tinker at the edges of a looming disaster, acting as if lowering fees on 401(k)s by a few fractions of a percentage point will solve the massive underfunding of a whole generation's old age. Forget it. It won't. It's time to stop pretending that the 401(k) can get us where we need to go.

Disclosure I am long one 401k through my work using Principal Financial group.

Roth IRA beats 401(k) Hands Down in key ways

our ability to contribute to a Roth IRA account in 2008 is determined by your income. Here's what IRS Publication 590, "Individual Retirement Arrangements," has to say about the income restrictions:

For 2008, your Roth IRA contribution limit is reduced (phased out) in the following situations.

• Your filing status is married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er) and your modified AGI is at least $159,000. You cannot make a Roth IRA contribution if your modified AGI is $169,000 or more.
• Your filing status is single, head of household, or married filing separately and you did not live with your spouse at any time in 2008 and your modified AGI is at least $101,000. You cannot make a Roth IRA contribution if your modified AGI is $116,000 or more.
• Your filing status is married filing separately, you lived with your spouse at any time during the year, and your modified AGI is more than -0-. You cannot make a Roth IRA contribution if your modified AGI is $10,000 or more.

The modified AGI, or MAGI, limits for the 2009 tax year will be a few thousand dollars higher than the 2008 numbers. The publication "IRS Announces Pension Plan Limitations for 2009" puts a finer point on it if you're bumping up against these MAGI limits.

Assuming you're eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA, you still have to decide if the Roth is the better choice. Both the Roth IRA and the 401(k) plan are tax-advantaged accounts. With the Roth, you contribute after-tax dollars today, and qualified distributions coming out of the account aren't subject to federal income taxes.

With a 401(k) plan, you contribute pretax dollars today, and qualified distributions out of the account are subject to federal income tax at your ordinary income rate. Being able to borrow money from the plan is an advantage to the plan versus the Roth IRA, but the loan has to be repaid if you leave your company. Otherwise, it is counted as a distribution from the plan and subject to income tax and possibly a penalty tax if it is an early distribution.

While there is no loan program available for a Roth IRA account, you contributed after-tax dollars, so no income tax is due on withdrawals of your contributions. You can withdraw your original contributions for any reason and at any time without taxes or penalties.

However, early distribution of investment earnings can be subject to income taxes and may be subject to a 10 percent penalty tax. The age of the account matters. Distributions from accounts less than 5 years old are treated differently than accounts that are more than 5 years old.

In addition, different tax rules apply if the money is withdrawn early (before age 59½) for certain reasons, such as to pay for qualified education expenses or to buy a home for the first time, or if the account holder has died or is disabled. When in doubt about the rules, work with your tax professional.

Most people in their 20s are in a lower marginal federal income tax bracket than they will be when they retire. If you expect your tax rate is lower today than it will be when you retire, contributing to a Roth IRA can make sense versus contributions to a 401(k) plan. The Bankrate article "Traditional IRA vs. Roth IRA" can help you make the right decision.

Another advantage to the Roth IRA account is that you can control where the account is held. Being able to do this lets you have some control over account fees and expenses and lets you pick a custodian that offers the types of investments you want for the account.

A lot of workers complain about the investment choices offered in their employer's 401(k) plans. You can finesse these issues by picking your custodian based on how you want the funds invested.

Disclosure I have a Roth IRA and a 401K.

First Trust Launches NEW Community Bank ETF!

The only exchange traded fund to focus on community banks started trading this morning on the NASDAQ. The First Trust Nasdaq ABA Community Bank Fund (QABA) from First Trust Advisors focuses on banks with a local focus, using a strict index criteria to exclude larger regional banks and banks that otherwise derive revenue from outside their home markets (eg credit card servicing).

The fund may appeal to investors looking to profit from the problems at larger banks, as smaller players are in a position to lend and gain market share. The index is down 25% so far this year, beating the 35% ytd decline of the SPDR KBW Regional Banking Fund (KBE).

First Trust specializes in such niche products, and is the 14th largest issuer of ETFS in the US.

“First Trust is pleased to introduce this new ETF that tracks NASDAQ® listed community banks,” said Robert Carey, CFA, and Chief Investment Officer of First Trust.

“There has been little distinction made between the stress-tested megabanks and the nearly 8,000 community banks throughout the country,” he continued. “Because these banks tend to practice more conservative banking strategies and have tended to stay away from subprime lending and exotic financial instruments, they have recently shown higher capital levels and healthier balance sheets as compared to larger financial institutions. Investors who want to take advantage of the financial sector as a market recovery takes hold may find community banks an attractive place to start,” Mr. Carey said.

The First Trust NASDAQ® ABA® Community Bank Index Fund will seek investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the fund’s fees and expenses) of the NASDAQ OMX® ABA® Community Bank IndexSM ABQI, a market capitalization weighted index.

About the NASDAQ OMX® ABA® Community Bank IndexSM

The NASDAQ OMX® ABA® Community Bank IndexSM (the “Index”) is jointly owned and was developed by NASDAQ OMX® and the American Bankers Association. The Index is rebalanced quarterly and reconstituted semi-annually. The Index is calculated and maintained by NASDAQ OMX®. For purposes of the Index, a “community bank” is considered to be all U.S. banks and thrifts or their holding companies listed on NASDAQ®, excluding the 50 largest U.S. banks by asset size. Also excluded are banks that have an international specialization and those banks that have a credit-card specialization, as screened by the American Bankers Association based on the most recent data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. A security must also have a market capitalization of at least $200 million and a three-month average daily dollar trading volume of at least $500 thousand and must meet certain operating history, solvency, and financial statement requirements. As of June 8, 2009, there were 96 securities that comprised the Index.

About First Trust Advisors L.P.

Based in Wheaton, Illinois, First Trust Advisors L.P., and its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P., are privately-held companies which provide a variety of investment services, including asset management, financial advisory services, and municipal and corporate investment banking, with collective assets under management or supervision of over $19 billion as of May 31, 2009 through closed-end funds, unit investment trusts, mutual funds, separate managed accounts and exchange-traded funds.

For more information, please visit www.ftportfolios.com.

Disclosure NONE

What You Can Do If You’re Confused By Some ETFs??

A recent survey has found that exchange traded funds (ETFs) that invest in alternative, or niche, asset classes are getting more difficult for investors to understand, as the market liquidity is waning. What can you do about it? ETFs are known for their transparency, low fees, and liquidity, as well as their ability to capture a small or niche area of the market. Of late, these so-called niche products have simply become too confusing for investors as the market conditions have turned.

Fewer than 30% of investors in hedge fund and real estate ETFs express satisfaction with these products, down from 60% a year ago, according to a survey conducted by Edhec, reports Sophia Grened for Financial Times.

Investing in such niche ETFs takes education and understanding. Hedge fund and institutional investors use ETFs frequently and tend to understand the proper utilization, while retail investors may not always do so.

Although “niche” funds can be confusing, they do offer alternatives to many investors and provide more versatility to you portfolio. By doing additional research, you just might be able to find a way to fit them into your overall strategy. And by being properly educated, it will enhance your experience with investing.

If you’re among the confused, some things that you can do to counter that include:

* Ask other investors questions. Visit Dividend basket to post questions.

* Read through our site and our etf information articles. You can use the search function or browse by sector to find dozens of articles on many funds.

* To ensure liquidity, look for funds with high trading volume(50,000+shares daily) and high assets(1 million is a nice round number if you are concerned).

* Visit the provider’s site. Many ETF providers have very thorough ETF education sections, and they also have comprehensive information about each fund they offer, complete with fact sheets, break downs and objective.

* Above all, don’t invest in what you don’t understand. If you’re not sure about something or don’t quite get what it does, then stay away.

Disclosure NONE

5 Things to Look for In Your ETFs Before Buying

For every up, there is a down. Newton’s Third Law is true both in life and with exchange traded funds (ETFs). Not all ETFs are right for all investors, though. How do you decipher which ones are best for you?

Different ETFs serve different purposes. It depends on your risk tolerance, time horizon, investing style and the overall makeup of your portfolio.

For example, leveraged ETFs are great if you’re looking to hedge a position you hold to avoid having to sell it; they’re not great at all if you’re looking for something you can buy and sit on for a few years. Oil is a good investment if you want to capture the gains the commodity has been making in recent months, but it’s not ideal if you’re looking for something with low volatility.

Matt Krantz for USA Today has a few tips on things to look for to determine the ETFs that are your best fit, while we expand on certain areas a little:

• Broad vs. Narrow. Broadly diversified ETFs are a much better bet than an individual stock. But there are also broad and narrow ETFs – the narrow you get, the more sensitive to market movements your ETF may be. If you want to diversify a little more and keep the risk lower, consider broad funds.
• Annual fees. While expense ratios are low for most ETFs, don’t make the assumption that they’re all dirt cheap. Some of the specialized ETFs carry high fees. Be sure to check and compare before buying to see that you’re not paying more than you had intended.
• Know what you own. ETFs that are invested within an industry or a niche market generally carry more risk than a broad fund. It is up to the investor to do some homework and know what they are putting their money toward and what the risks are.
• How does it work? Some ETFs own stocks of a certain market value or size. Others even use complex bets that the stock market will fall. Buying these highly concentrated ETFs can often be very risky – do a gut check and be sure you understand the risks and construction and are comfortable, as well.
• Liquidity. A general rule is that the larger the assets and the higher the trading volume, the better the liquidity of your ETF.

Disclosure I do own a great deal of etf's and strongly support their use in a balanced portfolio.

Why Preferred Stock ETFs Are Flying PFF my favorite

When the term “preferred stock” comes up, does it conjure images of exclusive shares that only sophisticated investors can purchase? The fact is, anyone can buy preferred stock now – through exchange traded funds (ETFs).

Don Dion for TheStreet says that the preferred ETFs offer access and diversification along with increased liquidity for the preferred shares. Owners of preferred stock have a higher claim on assets and earnings than owners of common stock.

There are several reasons that these shares and ETFs have attracted more attention lately:

• Financial shares have shown marked weakness because of the housing and credit meltdown. Their yields have declined quickly.
• The payouts provided by preferred securities have the payout advantage of bonds and the tax advantage of common dividends.
• Some investors treat their preferred shares as havens. The Jobs and Growth act of 2003 reduced the tax on dividends, making payouts from these funds relatively tax efficient.

My favorite play in preferred Stock etf's is PFF, iShares S&P U.S.Preferred Stock Index Fund which holds Freeport copper, wells fargo, metlife, SCHERING-PLOUGH, ford and citigroup preferred shares to name a few. Expense ratio is .48 basis points, trades around 800,000 shares daily. Pays a Super HEALTHY dividend of 10.48% monthly. Up 12.44% year to date.

Some fund info :

The Fund seeks to track the price and yield performance before fees and expenses of the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index. The Index measures the performance of a select group of preferred stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX or the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. The Index includes preferred stocks with a market capitalization over dollar 100 million. The Index may include many different categories of preferred stock such as floating rate preferred stock, fixed rate preferred stock, perpetual preferred stock, convertible preferred stock, trust preferred securities and various other traditional and hybrid issues of preferred stock.


Disclosure I am Long PFF in my Financial folio.

Outrageous 401k Fees load Fees Rebalance Fees Seems all I hear is FEES

Everyday in my day to day life I talk markets to anyone and everyone who will listen. Heck I even talk to the toilet, though I don't hear anything except flush the toilet bozo. But the point I am getting at, 401k fees glancing in my 401k company sponsored program through my employer. I was surprised to see I have some pretty decent rates, compared to most.

My work using Principal Financial Group, most of the funds they have for us charge around 1% with a T. Rowe Price Growth stock r fund charging charging 1.69% and a goldman sachs growth fund charging 1.72%. I just about blew a gasket when I checked into this. Sure they are managed funds and deserve to be paid to manage the money. This is blown out the water though.

Then we have transfer restictions when and how often you can move money around. Not to mention the fees for doing a rebalance. I was a novice on my first rebalance and lost almost $500.00 so quess what I will not be rebalance the 401k for quite some time now. I hear people talk about invest 10,000 with this mutal fund and only had to pay a 5% load. They talk like its the normal thing to do. Its like going to walmart seeing a tv you like and want to buy right now, so you pay walmart a $300 fee for having the tv and letting you buy it, plus the cost of the tv too. Wow bless their heart.

If my company wasnt matching my contributions to my 401k I would simply not put anything in such a waste in my eyes. So the questions becomes, Does it seem that your already Shruken 401k retirement account keeps getting eating up by these hidden fees?
Maybe the time is here to switch to an exchange traded fund (ETF) portfolio?

For instance you can purchase the S&P 500 in one etf called SPY which holds all 500 stocks of the S&P500 in one fund. This fund charges are you ready, check this our .10 percent. Yes thats right 1/10th of a percent. Imagaine the differnce in 30 years, that can have on your retirement. Plue etfs can be traded at any time the market is open, can be traded in and out of many times in the same day if ya like. They have a NAV net asset value just like mutual funds. My favorite etf research center is ETF connect.

Dividends are a major part of your retirement portfolio as well. Etfs well a great deal many of them pay quarterly dividends. Some fixed income etfs pay dividends each month, Like LQD 6%, HYG 10.8%, TIPS 4.41%.

Matthew Hougan for Index Universe offers his take on what are truly the best things about investing in ETFs. By process of elimination, he comes to his conclusion that there are two things above all others that ETFs have to offer.

Many claim it is the low fees that attract investors, however, different share classes at Vanguard make Hougan question this. Transparency is also touted, but many funds stick to their indexes with no problems. Excitement could be another reason, but there can not be any excitement without real substance.

The best characteristic an ETF can offer, in Hougan’s opinion, is tax efficiency. As far as straight equities are concerned, ETFs are the best idea for getting maximized tax benefits.

The other amazing thing ETFs provide are easy access to institutional-grade newer asset classes. ETFs are taking on a new investment life, transforming advisors from stock pickers to asset allocation strategists. Between commodities, real estate, currencies and even timber, the investment horizon has just widened. You can buy the entire market for just 0.7%, if you were so inclined.

I agree – ETFs have made it simple for even the Do it yourself investors(like me, you and most reading this ) to play along, not just because of their tax benefits and easy access, but because of their low expenses, transparency and simple, all-day trading. After so many were let down by their mutual funds in the early 2000s, ETFs have made it easy for self-directed investors to have more control.

The moral of this story, you will be better off in the long run if you can keep more of your hard earned money for yourself. The ETF investing train is here and people are getting on right and left are you going to get on and save some off your money or keep tossing it away at those idiotic load fees , undisclosed fees, can we stick ya with this fee, and whatever else fees they can stick you with?

Disclosure I am long SPY,LQD,HYG, and TIPS in my etf folio's.

Look for ETFs in retirement plans with BlackRock's deal with iShares

Laurence Fink has big plans for exchange-traded funds in the retirement market if he gets his hands on the largest ETF provider.

His firm, BlackRock Inc. (BLK-Quote) , has unveiled a widely expected deal to purchase Barclays Global Investors for $13.5 billion, one of the largest transactions ever in the asset-management business. See coverage of the deal.

Among other things, the Barclays (BCS-Quote) unit is the largest provider of ETFs, with 369 global iShares ETFs and assets of nearly $300 billion at the end of the first quarter.

"I believe with our strength in mutual funds and, importantly, the overwhelming position of iShares, that we can now bring a comprehensive solution to our retail clients, providing both solutions in the mutual-fund space and in the ETF space," Fink, the chief executive officer of BlackRock, said during a conference call Friday to discuss the proposed deal.

"We will continue to expand the iShares platform in different countries," he said.

Fink also said BlackRock could use its weight and influence to get ETFs into more retirement plans, which are dominated by mutual funds. One big hurdle for ETFs is that most 401(k) back offices aren't set up to handle ETFs, which are baskets of securities that trade like individual stocks.

"I think one of the real long-term trends is going to be lower-cost products," Fink said.

"I think the expenses associated with many retirement products overwhelm some of the relative returns," he said. "Some passive strategies will have a larger component to the future of our retirement strategies."

Most of the larger iShares ETFs are index-linked funds tied to recognizable stock and bond benchmarks.

Won't raise iShares ETF fees

Fink on Friday told Fox Business he has no plans to raise expense ratios at BGI's lineup of exchange-traded funds.

"I could say with total clarity they're not going higher," Fink said during an interview with Fox Business. "We're going to keep them where they are or bring them down."

The BlackRock CEO said he expects ETFs to continue their fast rate of growth and that the firm could introduce actively managed ETFs.

PIMCO Launches First ETF (TUZ); Files For Six More

Mutual fund behemoth PIMCO has been conspicuously absent from the ETF market. Today that changed with the launch of PIMCO 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index Fund (NYSE: TUZ). Combine this with reports that Vanguard is bidding to buy the iShares ETF label from parent company Barclays, and it looks like we may be entering a new era of competition in the ETF business.

First, let's take a look at TUZ. At first glance the new fund appears very similar to the iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Fund (NYSE: SHY). PIMCO is waiving fees to bring the expense ratio down to 0.09%, below the 0.15% found in SHY. Look for iShares to respond with lower fees soon. Both TUZ and SHY are aimed at income investors who want the potential for a higher yield than is available in short-term Treasury bills which mature in a year or less, while also keeping interest rate risk relatively low. See the Fact Sheet and Prospectus for more info on TUZ.

For PIMCO to make its very first ETF launch a near-clone of an existing ETF, and then to compete on expenses, is a very bold move. PIMCO also has the trading and marketing muscle to keep its funds active and liquid. The other large fund sponsors cannot ignore this development. At the same time, they will have a hard escaping the high-fee, performance-based culture that served them well for decades.

TUZ is only the beginning; PIMCO has other ETFs on the drawing board including its recent filing for six more - three TIPS and three additional Treasury ETFs. Whatever happens, it seems clear the ETF industry is due for some big changes.

Disclosure: I am long TUZ shares.

Forex Etfs Added new Folio

Hello all been a nice long weekend not much happening here. Sorta took a vacation from my computer and all these ho hum for a few days to let the brain relax, or at least give it time to catch up. Now working on day 6 NOT SMOKING, geez be nice to kick that monkey off my back.

I set up a forex/currency folio this week. Time to place some funds in other countries currency. Now that commodities are taking off many of the other forex plays will be stronger and I need the diversification. Picked out 12 decent plays in this folio. Not going to give them all away now till my buy order goes in this morning.

I had 3 sells for this morning, I sold APD, KALU and MFC. Sold for a combined 21.34% profit on all 3.

I added 2 New picks to my reits folio, IYR and RWX. Added Home Depot (HD) in my services folio. Needed some pipes for the washing machine and couldn't believe the amount of people planting gardens and do things to their house either to sell it , fix it up, or save money growing garden. They all lead me to readded HD, which we did sell in the past for a profit, regardless we are running it again. I also added smg to my watch list for the same reason.

With all the talk around blackrock potentially buying Ishares, I started a small postion in BLK, and also added IAI to my financial folio, IAI has all the other broker dealers, GS,CME, MS, and so on.

Added CTL to my technology folio they should be closing on Embarq soon. Which should give them some amazing earnings growth. CTL pays a 9.52% dividend, trading at .93 on price to book, less then book price.

In my index funds I added QAI, IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF. This is my play on the hedge fund sector or as close as I can get from a retirement account. With a expense ratio of .75 its a tad bit high but nothing compared to mutual funds. This etf will go long and short with other etfs. According to IQ website:

The Fund seeks investment results that correspond before fees and expenses generally to the price and yield performance of the IQ Hedge Multi Strategy Index. The Fund is a fund of funds as it invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in the investments included in its Underlying Index, which includes underlying funds.

Biggest changes in Basic Material folio Where we added coal back into the mix, Both ACI, and KOL the etf. Also added 2 other etfs the I shares basic materials(IYM) and MXI the global one.

In my emerging markets folio I added 4 new plays. EWG germany, EWS singapore, EWN Netherlands, and EWY south Korea. Some areas I seem to think there will be growth.

Disclosure I am long ewg,ewy,ews,ewn,aci,kol,iym,mxi,qai,ctl, blk,iai,iyr,rwx,hd,

This is not a reccomendation to buy any of these stock without doing your own homework. I am not a licensed broker and only have a few months of trading under my belt, however, profitable they have been still do your own research.

Thanks Dividend Basket