Tag Archives: history

4 Top-Rated Technology Mutual Funds To Invest In

Risk lovers seeking to derive healthy return over a fairly long investment horizon may opt for technology mutual funds. It is believed that the technology sector is poised for brighter earnings performance compared to other sectors due to higher demand for technology and innovation. Though the sector is likely to experience more volatility than others in the short term, the extent of volatility is believed to decline over a longer time horizon. Meanwhile, most of the mutual funds investing in securities from these sectors opt for a growth-oriented approach that includes focusing on strong fundamentals of companies and a relatively higher investment horizon. Moreover, technology has come to have a broader meaning than just hardware and software companies. Social media and “Internet” companies are now a part of the technology landscape. Below, we will share with you four buy-rated technology mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) , as we expect these mutual funds to outperform their peers in the future. To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all technology funds, investors can click here . Fidelity Select Technology Portfolio No Load (MUTF: FSPTX ) seeks capital growth over the long run. It invests a large chunk of its assets in common stocks of companies primarily involved in production, development and sale of products used for technological advancement. FSPTX invests in both US and non-US companies. Factors including financial strength and economic condition are considered before investing in a company. The fund is non-diversified and has a three-year annualized return of 14.2%. Charlie Chai is the fund manager and has managed FSPTX since 2007. MFS Technology Fund A (MUTF: MTCAX ) invests a large chunk of its assets in securities of companies involved in operations related to products and services that are believed to benefit from advancement and improvement of technology. It invests in securities issued throughout the globe, including those from emerging markets. This is a non-diversified fund and has a three-year annualized return of 15.1%. As of February 2016, MTCAX held 80 issues, with 12.28% of its assets invested in Alphabet Inc. A (NASDAQ: GOOGL ). T. Rowe Price Media And Telecommunications Fund No Load (MUTF: PRMTX ) seeks to provide long-term capital growth. It invests a major portion of its assets in securities of companies involved in operations related to media and telecommunications. PRMTX primarily invests in common stocks of large- and mid-cap companies. The fund has a three-year annualized return of 13.5%. Paul D. Greene II has been the fund manager of PRMTX since 2013. Matthews Asia Science and Technology Fund Inv (MUTF: MATFX ) invests the majority of its assets in securities of technology companies located in Asia. According to the fund’s advisors, companies that earn a maximum share of their revenue by carrying out operations related to the technology domain are considered as technology companies. MATFX primarily invests in common and preferred stocks of companies. It has a three-year annualized return of 11.6%. MATFX has an expense ratio of 1.18%, as compared to the category average of 1.45%. Original Post

The ETF Monkey Vanguard Core Portfolio: April 13, 2016 Rebalance

Back on February 11, 2016, I executed a series of transactions to rebalance The ETF Monkey Vanguard Core Portfolio . As explained in that article, the severe decline in both domestic and foreign stocks left these two asset classes significantly underweight, with bonds being overweight. Here, for convenience, is a “before and after” snapshot of that transaction. Click to enlarge As it turns out, the timing of that rebalancing could not have been better. In hindsight, it can be seen that February 11 represented, at least to this point, the low point for 2016. I don’t take particular credit for this. My efforts were simply an application of the principles found in this article . As I also noted in my previous article, I executed a fairly aggressive set of transactions. Mindful of the fact that I am deliberately incurring trading commissions on all transactions in this particular portfolio, to make the exercise as “real world” as possible, I commented that I need to make each transaction count. This being the case, I temporarily underweighted bonds in favor of adding to the other two severely depressed asset classes. Here is the equivalent Excel spreadsheet for today’s transaction. Have a look, and then I will offer some comments. Click to enlarge Likely, the first thing that jumped out at you is that both domestic and foreign stocks have staged fairly stunning comebacks since February 11. The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEARCA: VTI ) registered a gain of 14.69% during this period, while the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (NYSEARCA: VEU ) did even better, at 15.55%! On the flip side, this incredible performance, combined with my aggressive rebalancing transaction, left bonds substantially underweight, with their 13.37% weighting being a full 4.13% below my target weight of 17.50%, or a full 23.6% in relative terms (13.37 / 17.50). Given these developments, it appeared to me that this was a fitting point to take some of those profits, so to speak, and get the portfolio more closely aligned with my target weights. While it is not yet May, I will admit that the old adage “Sell in May and go away” contributed in some small way to the timing of this decision. I didn’t want to take a chance on being overweight domestic equities, only to have them experience a summer swoon! You may also notice that foreign stocks were about even with my target allocation as I reviewed the portfolio today. This is because I did not add as heavily to this asset class in the prior rebalance. Therefore, I decided to only affect the domestic stock and bond asset classes with this transaction, saving me one trading commission. Take one last peek at the “after” section of the spreadsheet, and you will notice that all 3 asset classes are now fairly closely aligned with their targets. I hope that this sets the portfolio up nicely for the summer. Disclosure: I am not a registered investment advisor or broker/dealer. Readers are cautioned that the material contained herein should be used solely for informational purposes, and are encouraged to consult with their financial and/or tax advisor respecting the applicability of this information to their personal circumstances. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Readers are solely responsible for their own investment decisions.

How To Trade In Gold ETFs After Robust 30-Year Rally?

Thanks to global growth concerns, reduced expectations for rate hike, geopolitical tensions and bearishness in the stock market, gold posted the biggest first-quarter gain in three decades. In addition, the adoption of negative interest rates by most central banks such as Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and Europe boosted the demand for gold bullion and pushed the prices higher. Investors should note that most of the gains came in the first six weeks of the year and thereafter the momentum of increase slowed down. What’s In Store? The Fed signaled that interest rates in U.S. would stay low for some time and dialed back its projection from four lift-offs to two hikes in its recent meeting. This is weighing on the dollar and propelling the price of gold. The release of minutes last week showed that the Fed is unlikely to raise interest rates in April, signaling that weak global growth could hurt the ongoing recovery in the U.S. economy. Further, continued rise in the Japanese currency dampened investors’ faith in central banks’ ability to boost growth across the globe. Further, an erratic market showed up again as volatility in oil price and weak corporate earnings in the U.S. raised demand for the yellow metal as a store of value and hedge against market turmoil ahead of the Q1 earnings season. However, the recent slew of encouraging data especially on the manufacturing activity and job growth fronts reflect strength in the U.S. economy and perked-up risk-on sentiment. As a result, the strongest Q1 rally of the yellow metal seems to be fading given that gold was up just 1.3% in the first few trading sessions of April. Considering the robust gains in the first quarter, gold is still off about 35% from its 2011 all-time high of $1,900 per ounce (read: ETFs to Gain or Lose After Strong Jobs Report ). To sum up, the stability in the financial market and an improving U.S. economy could bolster the case for rate hike again and may dull the appeal for the safe haven asset in the coming months. Given the volatile environment for gold investment, investors should place their bet on gold ETFs cautiously or could take advantage of the quick turn in sentiment with the help of leveraged or inverse ETFs. Gold ETFs These ETFs are directly linked to the spot gold price or futures and are worth watching in the coming months. These have a favorable Zacks ETF Rank of 3 or ‘Hold’ rating with a Medium risk outlook. SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSEARCA: GLD ): This is the largest and most popular ETF in the gold space with AUM of $32.6 billion and average daily volume of around 8.8 million shares. The fund tracks the price of gold bullion measured in U.S. dollars, and kept in London under the custody of HSBC Bank USA. Expense ratio comes in at 0.40%. The fund has added 0.6% so far this month. iShares Gold Trust ETF (NYSEARCA: IAU ) : This ETF offers exposure to the day-to-day movement of the price of gold bullion and is backed by physical gold under the custody of JP Morgan Chase Bank in London. It has AUM of $7.5 billion and trades in solid volume of more than 8 million shares a day on average. The ETF charges 25 bps in annual fees and has gained 0.7% this month (read: Ride on Gold Rally with Best ETFs and Stocks of 2016 ). Van Eck Merk Gold ETF (NYSEARCA: OUNZ ): This product seeks to provide investors with a convenient and cost-efficient way to buy and hold gold through an exchange-traded product with the option to take physical delivery of gold when desired. It charges 40 bps in fees per year but is unpopular and an illiquid option with AUM of $99.5 million and average daily volume of 42,000 shares. OUNZ is up 0.7% this month. Leveraged Gold ETFs Investors who are bullish on gold right now may consider a near-term long on the precious metal with the following ETFs depending on their risk appetite. ProShares Ultra Gold ETF (NYSEARCA: UGL ): This fund seeks to deliver twice (2x or 200%) the return of the daily performance of gold bullion in U.S. dollars. It charges 95 bps in fees a year and has amassed $89.3 million in its asset base. Volume is light at under 40,000 shares per day. The ETF has gained 0.86% in the first few trading sessions of April. PowerShares DB Gold Double Long ETN (NYSEARCA: DGP ): This ETN seeks to deliver twice the return of the daily performance of the DBIQ Optimum Yield Gold Index Excess Return, charging 75 bps in fees per year. It has accumulated $131 million in its asset base so far and trades in an average daily volume of 69,000 shares. The ETN is relatively flat so far this month. VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN (NASDAQ: UGLD ): This product provides three times (3x or 300%) exposure to the daily performance of the S&P GSCI Gold Index Excess Return plus returns from U.S. T-bills net of fees and expenses. The ETN has been able to manage an asset base of $64.6 million while charging a higher fee of 1.35% annually. However, the note trades in solid volume of over 546,000 shares a day on average and has returned 2% this month. Inverse Gold ETFs Any encouraging data on the economy could provide investors’ a near-term short opportunity on the bullion according to their risk appetite. DB Gold Short ETN (NYSEARCA: DGZ ): This ETN offers inverse (opposite) exposure to the performance of the DBIQ Optimum Yield Gold Index Excess Return. It has managed assets of $23.7 million so far this year and trades in a solid volume of 146,000 shares a day on average. It charges 0.75% in annual fees and has lost about 0.7% so far in April. ProShares Ultra Short Gold ETF (NYSEARCA: GLL ) : This fund seeks to deliver twice the inverse return of the daily performance of gold bullion in U.S. dollars, charging 95 bps in fees a year. It has $75.4 million in AUM and trades in lower average daily volume of 25,000 shares. The ETF has shed about 2% so far this month. VelocityShares 3x Inverse Gold ETN (NASDAQ: DGLD ): This product provides three times inverse exposure to the daily performance of the S&P GSCI Gold Index Excess Return. It has been able to manage an asset base of $17.4 million while charging investors a higher fee of 1.35% annually. The note trades in a light average daily volume of 43,000 shares and is down 2.1% so far this month. Link to the original post on Zacks.com