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After another week in the global market, the ETFdb pop quiz returns with another round of questions about Brazil, Banks, and Buy/Write. As always, all answers can be found using the suite of free tools at ETFdb.com, including the ETFdb Categories, ETF screener and the ETF Analyzer. 1. Which ETF has the most exposure to the Brazilian Real? 2. Which Alternative Energy Equity ETF has the highest number of holdings? 3. Which Bank ETF has the highest yield to date, Powershares KBW Bank Portfolio or State Street’s S&P Bank ETF? 4. Which ETF has the highest 52 week returns? 5. Which Buy/Write ETF has the lowest expense ratio? Also test your knowledge with our past Pop Quizes Australia, Aluminum, and Aerospace Water, White Metals, and WisdomTree Vietnam, Vanguard, and Value ETFs Follow me on Twitter @lynpaintzall Disclosure: No positions at time of writing. Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:No Related PostsClick here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:No Related Posts

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The party continued on Wall Street this past week as bullish euphoria carried equity indexes further into uncharted territory; the S&P 500 Index cruised past the 1,650 level while the Dow Jones Industrial Average settled above the 15,300 mark. On the data front, potential signs of weakening fundamentals began to resurface after industrial production and weekly jobless claims came in below expectations, although these releases barely put a minor dent in the bulls’ confidence [see also The Cheapest ETF For Every Investment Objective]. ETF Insider Recommendations Our only pick for this week resulted in a small loss after our stop-loss was triggered following the continuation of the bull run on Wall Street. Last Week’s Actionable ETF Ideas Ticker Position Week Performance XLB Short -1.2% Closed Trade: Short XLB: Down 1.2% This defensive recommendation was mistimed, despite our fundamental analysis being correct. Industrial production data missed the mark this week, but both the industrial and basic materials [...]Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:3 Sector Rotation Strategies ETF Investors Must Know12 Cheap ETFs Every Trader Must KnowThe Most Tradable Stock In Each Sector SPDR ETFCharts Are Aligning For XLUWhich Sector ETFs Are Cheap?

Silly steel beam art Giant litter on the field Take this junk away

SFMOMA has gone and done it again. They have installed artwork that boggles the mind. Mark di Suvero is an artist who sticks big steel beams into the ground. Sometimes he welds or rivets them together. He even hangs giant steel balls on them that twist in the wind. SFMOMA is paying for an exhibition of this art that runs until May 2014. I had to see this for myself today, before crowds of know-nothing gawkers start playing "emperor's new clothes" just to look sophisticated. I took the photo above while walking across Crissy Field from the southeast. This scene looks like a bad industrial accident from a distance at a low angle. It also looks like a junkyard from a high angle (when I drove in down Lincoln Blvd.). A junkyard would be an improvement because junk can be crushed, recycled, and repurposed into useful objects. This art installation allows for no such options; it is therefore less valuable than a junkyard. Art should allow us to use our imaginations. Here I go. This array of random steel reminds me of the Czech hedgehogs the German army deployed on the beaches of Normandy to thwart an Allied landing. These things are too big to stop tanks, so they must be intended to stop an invasion of Megatron and his Decepticons if the evil Transformers ever invade San Francisco. I saw plenty of bulldozers and long-haul trucks around the Presidio today, so I will assume those are really Autobots clandestinely prepared to defend us. The Presidio has long been a bulwark of the nation's defense system, after all. "Autobots, roll out!" My Ford Mustang would make a really cool Autobot. I can imagine it vaporizing pointless art with some well-placed plasma beam shots, or something. I took a second photo when I got close to this big red jumble of oversized pick-up sticks. Remember that kid's game? It was fun to play but this giant grown-up version is no fun at all. I decided to liven things up by conducting a live-action interpretation of what this object reminded me of the most - a middle finger salute. The artist has stated that his first memory of arriving in America was passing under the Golden Gate Bridge, and that his steel beams' color schemes pay homage to the bridge. That's really funny. The Golden Gate Bridge is a design classic and these beams are just beams. The bridge serves a useful purpose and these beams serve to irritate. The bridge is Art Deco. These beams might as well be Art Yucko. I truly believe that artists lacking in imagination deliberately create works that mock classical design and make fools out of patrons. Speaking of the Golden Gate Bridge, the walking trail around the bridge toll center has a sample girder that was crushed to test engineering tolerances. Maybe that bent steel could be part of this art installation. Think about it: One single steel column that performed a useful role alongside numerous steel beams that are totally useless. I took this final photo of a big brown thing that reminded me of space junk displayed in the background scenes of the Star Wars films. Maybe the Jawas decided this was too big to cut up and put into their Sandcrawler, so they left it here to scare Tusken Raiders away from their scavenging grounds. I'm displaying the thumbs-down gesture as disapproval of the Jawas' poor business sense. They could have scrapped this thing and sold it for at least a buck fifty. This exhibit runs for a year. A whole stinking, miserable year during which visitors to The City will scoff at our civic taste and locals will have their vision assaulted by eyesores. I shake my head whenever our distinguished city leaders make our town the object of national ridicule. It's even worse when "artists" exploit our lack of common sense to laugh all the way to the bank. I received an invitation to the kick-off party that SFMOMA will hold for big shots tomorrow, May 18, at Crissy Field. I have chosen not to attend. I cannot stom

By Russ Koesterich, CFA iShares Global Chief Investment Strategist As a number of market watchers have pointed out recently, high yield doesn’t look so junky anymore. High yield spreads are historically tight, at levels not seen since the fall of 2007 as the chart below shows, meaning there’s currently a much smaller difference in yield between a high yield bond and a comparable Treasury. At the same time, some high yield prices have reached all-time highs. In other words, investors aren’t being rewarded that much for holding high yield, traditionally viewed as a risky asset class. The chart above shows the Barclays US Corporate High Yield Average OAS through 3/13/2013. OAS stands for Option-Adjusted Spread, or the amount by which a bond’s yield exceeds the yield of a similar duration Treasury when accounting for any optionality embedded in the bond [check out the Better Than AGG Total Bond Market ETFdb Portfolio]. [...]Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:Active ETF Investing: 3 Things To ConsiderThe Great Duration Rotation Continues, But For How Long?High Yield Bond ETFs Battle For Inflows: HYG vs. JNK2 Factors Keeping a Lid on Interest RatesThe New Fixed Income World

The American Legion's District 8 in San Francisco is not worth the time or effort of any productive veteran. Anyone who tries to get involved here will waste a tremendous amount of energy with no positive result. The American Legion in San Francisco is too far gone to be responsive to a salvage effort. I have learned this from personal experience. District 8 has reinstated a fraudulent post and allowed that post's corrupt leadership to once again assume positions of trust and responsibility. The District has learned nothing after seeing the good name of veterans dragged through the mud by a Stolen Valor fraud. Other post commanders have included a convicted felon running an illegal bingo parlor and a renegade attorney who was disbarred in California. The San Francisco veterans' community seeks to retain use of the War Memorial Veterans Building but cannot even utilize the space they are currently allotted. The SFWMPAC Board of Trustees is charged with fully utilizing this City-owned space to deliver full value to taxpayers. I say let the San Francisco Opera and the arts community have the entire building. They have a solid plan to utilize every square inch of space and can commit money and expertise to fulfill that plan. Veterans don't deserve the building anymore. The veterans' presence inside the WMVB is nothing more than a magnet for an endless parade of addicts, vagrants, lunatics, and scam-artist "commanders" whose greatest ambition in life is to rub two government benefit checks together. Each derelict who stumbles through the front door degrades the veterans' community and the dignity of the building. The Trust Agreement governing use of the building grants veterans the right to use space but IMHO this commitment can be met with a minimalist allocation. Veterans can claim a shoebox under the desk of the WMVB's Managing Director, which is all they can productively utilize anyway. Evicted veterans' organizations can reconvene off-site in a suitable alternate locale, such as the nearest junkyard or toxic waste dump. District 8 is a waste of everything and then some. Full disclosure: I am a veteran.

During the final hour of trading, U.S. equities rallied higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 hitting fresh highs and all three major averages posting their fourth-straight weekly gain. Bolstering stocks were a pair of domestic economic reports. The University of Michigan’s  consumer sentiment index for May rose to its highest level since July of 2007. In a separate report, the Conference Board’s Leading Indicators also topped analysts’ expectations, rising 0.6% versus the forecasted 0.2% uptick [see The Cheapest ETF for Every Investment Objective]. Global Market Overview: YCS Pops On Strong Dollar, XLE Rallies Following a pair of upbeat economic reports, all three major U.S. equity indexes rallied to close in positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF ended 0.70% higher, after its underlying index hit a fresh all-time high. The S&P 500 ETF rose 0.94%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ETF gained 0.90%. In Europe, markets ended slightly after encouraging auto data was reported: the Stoxx Europe 600 [...]Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:Daily ETF Roundup: S&P Posts Record High, XLF And XLE RallyDaily ETF Roundup: YCS Pops On Weaker Yen, XLU Slides Alongside UtilitiesDaily ETF Roundup: Stocks Snap 4-day Win Streak In Lackluster SessionDaily ETF Roundup: Stocks Reverse Losses To Close HigherDaily ETF Roundup: Dow Sets Yet Another Record

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U.S. equity markets struggled to maintain bullish momentum as several mixed economic reports hit the streets. Industrial production, manufacturing activity and initial jobless claims all came in below expectations, while U.S. retail sales and small business optimism beat analysts’ forecasts. Meanwhile, investors paid close attention to commentary from legendary hedge fund manager David Tepper, who stated that he is “definitely bullish” on stocks, and that he sees the improving economy, particularly in the housing and auto markets, as reasons to be bullish [see The Cheapest ETF for Every Investment Objective]. Building Permits Rise, But Housing Starts Take a Dip The latest building permits data, compiled by the Census Bureau, came in at 1.02 million permits for the month of April, which was well above expectations. Analysts had forecasted the annualized number of new residential building permits issued in April to be around 0.92 million. In the previous recording, building permits came in well below expectations, with [...]Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:Daily ETF Roundup: Buy The Rumor, Sell The TweetDaily ETF Roundup: Stocks Rebound From Worst One-Day Drop In 2013Daily ETF Roundup: Housing Data Brings Back The BullsFiscal Cliff ETF Rally Still Hot Daily ETF Roundup: Bargain Shopping Euphoria Sparks Rally