Of Cargo Ships and ETFs

Submitted By Tom Lydon

Some exchange traded funds (ETFs) could be affected as the world's fleet of cargo ships grow old. That's because as the world's fleet of cargo ships age, they can't carry the surging demand for commodities. In turn, this affects supply and causes the cost of shipping and commodity prices to go up, reports Jesse Emspak for Investor's Business Daily. Some of the ETFs that could be impacted by this and their year-to-date performance include:

Market Vector's Steel (SLX) - up 79.8%
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil Equipment (IEZ) - up 40.4%
iShares S&P Global Materials Sector Index Fund (MXI) - up 41.1%
WisdomTree Basic Materials (DBN) - up 38.1%

Shipping costs are measured by the Baltic Exchange Dry Index, an indicator of prices for transporting weight. The index is up 145% year-to-date and 171% over the past year. Because the commodities need to be physically transported, commodity prices tend to move with the Baltic Exchange Dry Index. Currently there are not any dry shipping related ETFs, but ETFs that track commodities could rise with this mix, such as:

streetTracks Gold Shares (GLD) - up 19.6% year-to-date
Market Vector's Gold Miners (GDX) - up 16.8% year-to-date

October 25, 2007

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Some critics claim that ETFs

Submitted by dcop123 on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 6:21am.

Some critics claim that ETFs can be, and have been, used to manipulate market prices, including having been used for short selling that has been asserted by some observers (including Jim Cramer of theStreet.com) to have contributed to the market collapse of 2008. Catalogue Design | CD Cover Design

John C. Bogle, founder of

Submitted by dcop123 on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 1:50am.

John C. Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group, a leading issuer of index mutual funds (and, since Bogle's retirement, of ETFs), has argued that ETFs represent short-term speculation, that their trading expenses decrease returns to investors, and that most ETFs provide insufficient diversification. He concedes that a broadly diversified ETF that is held over time can be a good investment. Envelope Design | Letter Head Design | Logo Design