Even before the pandemic, online learning was already a growing industry, but disruptive technology could further enhance the space, translating to gains for the Global X Education ETF (EDUT).
“E-learning platforms have been witnessing an exponential uptake by the education and corporate sectors over the past three to five years,” Global Market Insights adds, noting that $1.6 billion was invested in educational technology in 2019.
“World fertilizer prices continue to soar as tightening supplies send costs up for farmers and consumers across the globe,” reports Elizabeth Elkin for Bloomberg.
This year, the semiconductor industry is one of the epicenters of global supply chain stress, but that’s not hampering chip stocks and the related exchange traded funds.
In April 2020, OPEC made the unprecedented decision to clip nearly 10 million barrels per day from the market as the pandemic sapped demand for petroleum products. However, if the Biden administration and its allies are able to successfully release crude into the markets, short ETFs like the ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil (SCO) could see considerable gains, even if short-lived.
Disruptive, next-generation healthcare strategies, including the ARK Genomic Revolution Multi-Sector Fund (CBOE: ARKG), are scuffling this year, but those struggles belie opportunity — something the healthcare sector is ripe with.
Low-volatility exchange traded funds and their underlying indexes are, for the most part, intended to be sector agnostic. Perhaps not surprisingly, SPLV currently allocates about 40% of its weight to the consumer staples and utilities sectors, two groups with long-running reputations for being docile relative to other sectors.
HSBC Asset Management has unveiled its first two sustainable fixed income ETFs, the prelude to a more extensive rollout in due course. The new ETFs, which provide access to euro and US dollar corporate bond markets, filter out companies according to a comprehensive set of business activity, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), and carbon intensity screens before tilting towards issuers with superior ESG profiles.
Some banks and research firms are growing bullish on Japanese stocks, and that could signal opportunities with exchange traded funds such as the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DXJ) . The currency-hedged exchange traded fund is up 17.31% year-to-date, beating the MSCI EAFE Index by nearly 600 basis points.
Domestic small-cap equities are handily beating large-cap benchmarks this year, but that phenomenon isn’t limited to U.S. borders. Removing some home country bias can help investors unearth opportunities with international small-caps, including those in emerging markets.
New York-headquartered Global X has made a big push into the European ETF market with the launch of seven new thematic equity UCITS ETFs. They include strategies targeting autonomous & electric vehicles, e-commerce, robotics & AI, cybersecurity, clean technology, fintech, and the internet of things.
Dividends tend to be useful hedges against inflation, as dividend payouts are less volatile than earnings, and companies can set the price of their goods, allowing them to pass expenses onto the consumer.There are two places where dividend-hungry investors can still find decent income: Midstream companies and REITs.
“First, it is expected that the Federal Reserve will begin lifting interest rates, which will widen the spread banks earn between the interest they charge on loans and the interest they pay on in deposits,” reports Carleton English for Barron’s. “Analysts at Oppenheimer note that the Treasury yield curve is forecasting at least one or two rate hikes by 2023, adding that the first hikes are the most ‘consequential’ for banks.”
Investors looking for an alternative to traditional small-cap index funds and exchange traded funds may want to evaluate the Invesco S&P SmallCap 600 Equal Weight ETF (EWSC ). EWSC fits the bill as an easy-to-understand alternative to standard cap-weighted small-cap index funds because the Invesco ETF is simply the equal-weight answer to a basic S&P SmallCap 600 tracker.
With the buzz growing from the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies, the noise is only getting louder as crypto platforms are forming strategic partnerships with sports franchises. One franchise, the Dallas Mavericks, owned by famed investor and “Shark Tank” TV personality Mark Cuban, is linking up with cryptocurrency platform Voyager Digital.
