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The bulls finally eased off the buying trigger as the latest FOMC minutes cast a cloud of worry across Wall Street. Major equity indexes ended yesterday’s trading session with a fairly sharp sell-off into the close, marking the first profit taking wave since the last mini-correction seen in mid-April. Stocks dropped after comments from Chairman Bernanke revealed that the Federal Reserve may be getting closer to slowing down its pace of bond-repurchases [see also The Cheapest ETF For Every Investment Objective]. Our ETF to watch for today is the MSCI United Kingdom Index Fund which could swing in either direction at the opening bell as investors react to the overnight GBP gross domestic product data release. Analysts are expecting for Britain’s economic growth rate to come in unchanged at 0.3% for the quarter. Chart Analysis Consider EWU’s one-year daily performance chart below. This ETF has been trading higher within a crudely defined channel (blue lines) since bottoming out in June of [...]Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:ETFdb Weekly Watchlist: VGK, EWU, VXX Hinge On ECB, Fed, and Bank of England3 ETFs To Watch This Week: GLD, EWU, XRT3 ETFs To Watch This Week: EWJ, XLI, EWUETF Insider: European Tensions On The Horizon European Country ETFs: All Over The Board

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Markets took their cue from Ben Bernanke today, as the chairman commented on the Fed’s monetary policy before the Senate’s Joint Economic Committee in Washington. Though Bernanke stated that the central bank will continue its current stimulus measures, he indicated that changes may be made, but when they will happen, he simply “does not know”.  The latest FOMC minutes reported today also reflected this sentiment, stating that a number of participants this month favored tapering the central bank’s $85 billion a month bond-buying program as early as the June meetings. Bernanke and the FOMC did, however, stress that no changes would be made without sufficient evidence of strong and sustained economic growth [see The Cheapest ETF for Every Investment Objective]. Global Market Overview: TLT Tumbles On Fed Tapering Fears, XLB Slumps Following Bernanke’s testimony and the release of the latest FOMC minutes, all three major U.S. equity indexes fell to close [...]Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:Daily ETF Roundup: Stocks Close Higher As Earnings Season Kicks OffDaily ETF Roundup: Healthcare Shares Boost IHI And XLVDaily ETF Roundup: DBP Pops On Fed Speculations, XLE RalliesDaily ETF Roundup: YCS Pops On Strong Dollar, XLE RalliesDaily ETF Roundup: IGN Pops After Cisco Earnings, XLV Slumps

A lesson from Warren Buffett: doubt yourself [WSJ] Jelisavcic: This is an optimal time to invest in distressed debt [FINalternatives] Are corporate profit margins abnormally elevated or sustainable? [Greenbackd] Don't just do something, sit there [The Economist] Steve Romick: trade into the gold you can eat, farmland [Forbes] Why investors can't imagine a collapse of the bond market [WSJ] Telecom's big players hold back the future [NYTimes] Investor sentiment: fear and greed index [CNNMoney] Hedge fund leverage approaches all-time high [ai-CIO] National Bank (NBHC) on the prowl [Barrons] Why Alibaba could be China's next big IPO [Reuters] Anatomy of the 10-K [Wall Street Oasis] How the SEC's marketing rules shortchange investors [ii alpha] Is the asset management business set for consolidation? [Citywire] Warren Buffett is bullish on women [CNN Money] If MBAs are useless, we're all in big trouble [Quartz] Ron Johnson's 5 key mistakes at J.C. Penney [Fast Company]

After 10 years of business, Tesla is finally starting to gain traction in the U.S. market and will be posting profits for the first time since going public. There have been strong words on both sides about Tesla’s second production vehicle, but after the Model S won Motor Trend Car of the Year earlier this spring Tesla stock has experienced a meteoric rise in price. Elon Musk’s car company has pushed back against allegations that their Model S is just another electric pipe dream to prove that you don’t need gas to make a car people want to drive, and yet many auto-focused ETFs are missing out on these strong returns [see also How To Take Profits And Cut Losses When Trading ETFs]. Even as Tesla continues to rake in the cash, it remains absent from the portfolios of auto ETFs and broader consumer discretionary funds. One of the most popular and focused funds, the First Trust NASDAQ [...]Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:Earth Day Special: Definitive Guide To Clean Energy ETFs5 Best (And 5 Worst) ETF Performers Over The Last 5 Years5 Worst ETF Strategies Of The Last 5 YearsThree Possible ETF Winners From A Shift In Hybrid Tax CreditsSolar ETFs Off To A Not-So-Bright Start

Andreas Halvorsen's hedge fund firm Viking Global Investors has filed a 13G with the SEC regarding shares of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG). Per the filing, Viking has disclosed a 5.1% ownership stake in ISRG with 2,029,353 shares. This marks around a 10% increase in the amount of shares they own since the end of the first quarter in March. This filing was required due to portfolio activity on May 10th. Viking over doubled its stake in ISRG during the first quarter and it's now one of their largest holdings. Shares have fallen from $580 down to as low as $455 and currently trade around $485. As such, ISRG shares are likely trading at or even below levels where the hedge fund was buying. To see what other US stocks Viking Global has invested in, check out the brand new issue of our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter that was just released yesterday. Per Google Finance, Intuitive Surgical is "designs, manufactures and markets da Vinci Surgical Systems and related instruments and accessories. A da Vinci Surgical System consists of a surgeon’s console, a patient-side cart and a high performance vision system. The da Vinci Surgical System translates a surgeon’s natural hand movements, which are performed on instrument controls at a console, into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through small incisions, or ports. The da Vinci Surgical System is designed to provide its operating surgeon with intuitive control, range of motion, fine tissue manipulation capability and three dimensional (3-D), high-definition (HD) vision while simultaneously allowing the surgeon to work through the small ports of MIS." For more resources on this fund, we've also posted up a rare interview with Andreas Halvorsen.

Chase Coleman's hedge fund firm Tiger Global filed a 13G with the SEC regarding their position in Carter's (CRI). Per the filing, Tiger Global has revealed a 6.75% ownership stake in CRI with 4 million shares. This marks a 36% increase in the amount of shares they own since the end of the first quarter. This latest disclosure comes due to portfolio activity on May 9th. To see the rest of Tiger Global's recent portfolio, check out the brand new issue of our premium newsletter that just came out yesterday. Per Google Finance, Carter's is "a branded marketer of apparel for babies and young children in the United States. The Company owns two brand names in the children’s apparel industry, Carter’s and OshKosh. Its Carter’s brand provides apparel for children sizes ranging from newborn to seven. OshKosh brand provides its line of apparel for children sizes newborn to 12. Its Carter’s, OshKosh, and related brands are sold to national department stores, chain and specialty stores and discount retailers."

The extent of the surge to Japan by equity investors is written in sparkly 50-foot-high neon letters by the latest flows data out from Lipper. We all know that Abenomics has, thus far, cast a spell over markets; the Nikkei is up about 80 percent since the middle of November, when Shinzo Abe first started looking like a bona fide challenger to win power. But it is still startling to see how flows into Japan have dominated investment behaviour. In April alone, Japan equity funds and ETFs accounted for $9.1 billion of net inflows in a month when total net inflows across all sectors was just $9.9 billion. The money pouring into the Tokyo markets was also more than three times greater than the net inflows at the next best sector. Add the Japan Small and Midcaps sector as well as Asia Pacific funds (heavily weighted to Japan) and April net inflows inspired by the BOJs aggressive monetary policy easing reach $11.2 billion. On a three month view, the figures show a similar trend, with Japan equity fund net inflows at $17.9 billion, much more than double the inflows enjoyed by the next best sector. We've published our latest bouncy interactive graphic to let you explore the data yourself. It includes flows and performance data from all of Lipper's equity and bond sectors across the last 12 months. Click on the image below to launch, or just click here if that seems too exhausting.

Larry Robbins' hedge fund firm Glenview Capital just filed a Form 4 with the SEC regarding shares of Tenet Healthcare (THC). Per the filing, Glenview sold 4 million shares of THC on May 14th at a price of $47.75. After the transaction, Glenview still owns just over 9.8 million shares. This means they've reduced their position size by around 29% as the hedge fund has finally locked in some profits on the name. Tenet a Big Winner For Glenview THC shares have been a huge winner for Glenview and we originally highlighted Glenview's thesis on hospitals a year ago. That trade has performed extremely well, as THC is up over 120% since then. As noted in our post on 2013 Q1 hedge fund performance, Glenview was up 17.94% at the end of the first quarter. And this comes on top of a big 2012 where they returned 29% before fees. Their basket bet on hospital stocks is a big reason why (and especially Tenet, their largest wager of the group). And while Robbins' firm has sold some Tenet shares, we highlighted how Glenview recently added to another hospital play. Per Google Finance, Tenet Healthcare is "an investor-owned health care services company whose subsidiaries and affiliates own and operate acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, diagnostic imaging centers and related health care facilities. Its core business is focused on providing acute care treatment, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, radiology services and emergency medical treatment, as well as outpatient services." You can view the rest of Glenview's portfolio in our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter (new Q1 issue available now).

Interest in emerging market equities has grown rapidly over the years, as investors flock to this lucrative corner of the global market. In addition to providing diversification benefits, emerging market exposure also has the potential to produce uncorrelated returns for those willing to take on the higher level of risk. And while there are numerous ways investors can tap into this segment, investors still must choose which strategy they want to take: choose a broad-based fund that casts a wider net over the space or take advantage of targeted exposure through a country-specific ETF [see Single Country ETFs: Everything Investors Need To Know]. One particular fund that lends itself to answering the age old question of broad-based versus country-specific exposure is the BICK Index Fund ; this fund offers exposure to the largest companies domiciled in Brazil, India, China, and South Korea. How the BICK Index Fund Stacks Up Against Country-Specific Funds The chart below illustrates [...]Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.Related Posts:AdvisorShares Rolls Out Global Opportunities ETF (ACCU)Harvard Endowment Hearts ETFsEmerging Market ETFs: Seven Factors Every Investor Should ConsiderFree ETF Trading: Comparing All The OptionsTop Ten Equity ETFs Of 2009