noninstitutional

16 Apr: XLB

XLB U.S. materials sector provides indirect exposure to commodity prices through the stocks of companies engaged in the extraction or production of natural resources. Because the materials sector often accounts for a small portion of broad-based benchmarks, XLB may be a useful tool for long-term investors looking for more balanced exposure to the U.S. equity market. It can also be handy for those looking to implement a shorter-term tilt towards the materials sector. Like most Sector SPDRs, XLB’s appeal lies in its cost efficiency and liquidity; it is among the cheapest funds in the Materials

16 Apr: XHB

This ETF is focused on the U.S. homebuilding industry, and as such offers exposure to a corner of the domestic economy that tends to be cyclical in nature. In addition to pure play homebuilders, this fund includes companies related generally to the homebuilding industry, such as Pier One. For investors seeking exposure to the homebuilding industry–or the closest thing to it available in an ETF wrapper–we think XHB is the best option out there. This fund is more cost efficient than other options such as PKB or ITB, and the equal weighting methodology ensures exposure is spread evenly across component companies.

16 Apr: GDX

GDX offers investors exposure to some of the largest gold mining companies in the world, thereby delivering what can be thought of as “indirect” exposure to gold prices. Because the profitability of gold miners depends on the prevailing market price for the goods that they sell, these stocks will generally exhibit a strong correlations to movements in spot gold prices. When gold prices go up, gold miners make more money (and vice versa). It should be noted, however, that this relationship is not perfect; in certain environments, gold miner stocks and physical gold prices can move in opposite directions, and correlation between the two can be less than perfect.

15 Apr: USDJPY

USDJPY is a major indicator of the Yen Carry Trade as Japanese citizens have the highest savings rate in the world and a larger portion of them invest in both our equities market as well as our US Treasury market, so any time they buy their yen are exchanged for US dollars thus putting upside pressure on USD & downside pressure on JPY naturally boosting this pairs ratio.

15 Apr: EURUSD

The Currency Pair EUR/USD is the shortened term for the euro against U.S. dollar pair, or cross for the currencies of the European Union (EU) and the United States (USD). The currency pair indicates how many U.S. dollars (the quote currency) are needed to purchase one euro (the base currency). Trading the EUR/USD currency pair is also known as trading the “euro.” The value of the EUR/USD pair is quoted as 1 euro per x U.S. dollars. For example, if the pair is trading at 1.50, it means it takes 1.5 U.S. dollars to buy 1 euro.

15 Apr: AUDUSD

The Australian Dollar (AUD) is the currency unit used in the Commonwealth of Australia. … The Dollar is rated by the World Foreign Exchange market as the fifth most-traded currency in the world. The Australian Dollar is also known as the “Aussie”.

14 Apr: TLT Weekly

TLT provides exposure to long-dated Treasuries, an asset class that is light on credit risk but may offer attractive yields thanks to an extended duration and therefore material interest rate risk. TLT might not be a core holding in a buy-and-hold portfolio, as long-term Treasuries are included in broader-based bond funds such as AGG and BND. But for those looking to extend the duration of their portfolio and potentially enhance the current return offered, this can be a useful product. TLT is efficient from a cost perspective, offers exposure to hundreds of individual securities, and delivers impressive liquidity to those looking to execute a trade quickly.