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Articles on SPY

  • Global Markets Largely Flat

    12/14/2010

    Global indices provide important insight into international equity markets. It plays an important role in asset allocation strategy such as our Tactical Asset Allocation. We track detailed weekly country economic trend movements. We use ETFs that represent each geographic region and present the results here.

    Assets Class

    Symbols

    12/10
    Trend
    Score

    12/03
    Trend
    Score

    Direction

    South Africa

    (EZA)

    16.09%

    18.0%

    v

    Taiwan

    (EWT)

    16.01%

    16.11%

    v

    South Korea

    (EZA)

    14.03%

    14.47%

    v

    Russia

    (RSX)

    13.92%

    13.98%

    v

    Mexico

    (EWW)

    13.17%

    14.69%

    v

    Malaysia

    (EWM)

    12.9%

    11.87%

    ^

    Austria

    (EWO)

    12.25%

    11.34%

    ^

    Hong Kong

    (EWH)

    11.62%

    14.4%

    v

    Germany

    (EWG)

    10.18%

    11.62%

    v

    Canada

    (EWC)

    10.13%

    10.99%

    v

    Singapore

    (EWS)

    10.12%

    10.98%

    v

    Australia

    (EWA)

    9.66%

    10.77%

    v

    United Kingdom

    (EWU)

    8.25%

    6.82%

    ^

    Switzerland

    (EWL)

    7.89%

    7.46%

    ^

    Japan

    (EWJ)

    6.04%

    7.59%

    v

    India

    (INP)

    6.0%

    10.59%

    v

    The Netherlands

    (EWN)

    5.08%

    4.71%

    ^

    France

    (EWQ)

    4.35%

    3.64%

    ^

    Belgium

    (EWK)

    4.34%

    4.95%

    v

    Brazil

    (EWZ)

    3.6%

    8.23%

    v

    China

    (FXI)

    1.33%

    3.69%

    v

    Italy

    (EWI)

    -0.03%

    0.73%

    v

    Spain

    (EWP)

    -1.87%

    -0.06%

    v

    Top Five Indicators

    click to enlarge

    Following South Africa Central Bank’s announcement to cut interest rate 50 basis points three weeks ago, the iShares MSCI South Africa Index (EZA) has performed quite well until last week, when it ended the week flat. Inflation remains as a key risk in the SA market if the country’s currency reverses its recent strengthening trend and weakens.

    Even amid uncertainty and tensions on the Korean peninsula, the iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (EWY) has outperformed the broader market significantly, with a +22% year-to-date performance. Looking ahead to 2011, if South Korean can keep its growth up with strong export and carefully manage the North Korea tensions, 2011 may continue to be a nice year for (EWY).

    Bottom Five Indicators

     

    Despite renewed optimism over global growth prospects, European markets ended the week lower. The outlook for Spain remains tepid – the country is coming off of a third month of contraction in the private sector and there are concerns about the country’s economy falling into a double-dip recession. The iShares MSCI Spain Index (EWP) is down 19.2% year-to-date and 2011 might remain a tough year for the ETF.

    Investors showed reluctance toward the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index ahead of potentially more tightening by China at the past weekend. The Chinese Central Bank has already increased bank reserve requirements six times this year in hopes to cool inflation and excessive speculation in housing. (FXI) is up 3.6% year-to-date, with China’s equity markets lagging behind the broader emerging markets.

     

    labels:investment,

    Symbols:AGG,BND,CIU,CSJ,DBA,DBC,EEM,EFA,EWA,EWC,EWG,EWH,EWI,EWJ,EWK,EWL,EWM,EWN,EWO,EWP,EWQ,EWS,EWT,EWU,EWW,EWY,EWZ,EZA,FXI,GSG,HYG,ICF,IEF,INP,IWM,IYR,JNK,LQD,MBB,MDY,MUB,PHB,QQQQ,RSX,SHV,SHY,SPY,TLT,USO,VEU,VNQ,VWO,


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  • Samsung's Excellent 401K Plan, Pushes the ETF Benchmark Hard

    12/14/2010

    Samsung is an aggressive and innovative company. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. engages in the manufacture and sale of semiconductors, LCDs, telecommunication products, and digital media products. It has operations in Korea, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and China. The company was founded in 1938 and is based in Seoul, South Korea

    Their 401K plan is one of the best we have seen and demonstrates employee concern. This report reviews Samsung 401K plan. We will discuss the investment choices and present the plan rating by MyPlanIQ.

    Plan Review and Rating

    Samsung 401K's plan consists of 33 funds. These funds enable participants to gain exposure to 5 major assets: US Equity, Foreign Equity, Emerging Market Equity, REITs, Fixed Income.

    Asset Class

    Number of funds

    US

    11

    International

    2

    Sector

    2

    Balanced

    1

    Fixed income

    4

    Emerging Markets

    1

    Commodities

    0

    Real estate

    1

    Target Date

    11



    With 11 target date funds, there are plenty of alternatives for those who don't want to mess with investments but there is also plenty of upside for those who do.

    The list of minor asset classes covered:

    Diversified Emerging Mkts: EEM, GMM, PXH, DEM, SCHE
    Equity Precious Metals: DBP
    Foreign Large Blend: EFA, VEU, GWL, PFA
    Global Real Estate: IFGL, RWX
    High Yield Bond: HYG, JNK, PHB
    Intermediate-term Bond: AGG, CIU, BIV, BND
    Large Blend: IVV, IYY, IWV, VTI, VV, SPY, DLN, RSP, SCHX
    Large Growth: IVW, IWZ, JKE, VUG, ELG, QQQQ, RPG, SCHG
    Large Value: IVE, IWW, JKF, VTV, ELV, PWV, RPV, SCHV
    Mid-cap Blend: IJH, IWR, JKG, VO, MDY, EMM, PJG, DON, EZM, MVV
    Mid-cap Growth: IJK, IWP, VOT, EMG, PWJ, RFG, UKW
    Mid-cap Value: IJJ, IWS, JKI, VOE, EMV, PWP, RFV, UVU
    Natural Resources: IYM, IGE, VAW, XLB, XME, PYZ, DBN, RTM, UYM
    Retirement Income:
    Short Government: SHY, SHV, VGSH, PLK, USY
    Small Blend: IJR, IWM, JKJ, VB, DSC, PJM, DES, SAA, UWM, SCHA
    Small Growth: IJT, IWO, JKK, VBK, DSG, PWT, RZG, UKK
    Small Value: IJS, IWN, JKL, VBR, DSV, PWY, RZV, UVT
    Target Date 2000-2010: TZD
    Target Date 2011-2015: TZE
    Target Date 2016-2020: TZG
    Target Date 2021-2025: TZI
    Target Date 2026-2030: TZL
    Target Date 2031-2035: TZO
    Target Date 2036-2040: TZV
    Target Date 2041-2045:
    Target Date 2050+:

    As of Dec 13, 2010, this plan investment choice is rated as great based on MyPlanIQ Plan Rating methodology that measures the effectiveness of a plan's available investment funds. It has the following detailed ratings:

    Diversification -- Rated as above average (80%)
    Fund Quality -- Rated as great (97%)
    Portfolio Building -- Rated as great (98%)
    Overall Rating: great (92%)
    Keys to the success of this portfolio

    • US funds ideal balance in terms of the number of range of choices
    • Strong fixed income choices
    • Five asset classes in total

    Current Economic and Market Conditions

    With the current market uncertainties with bonds and stocks going through continuous shifts, it is even more critical to properly diversify and respond to market changes.

    The Samsung 401K plan is well positioned to provide strength in equities and fixed income classes and to provide a great platform for building a high performance portfolio.

    MyPlanIQ offers two asset allocation strategies: strategic and tactical asset allocation strategies (SAA and TAA for participants in Samsung 401K).

    Strategic Asset Allocation is based on well known modern portfolio theory and its key features include: diversification, proper fund selection and periodically re-balancing.

    Tactical Asset Allocation works on a diversified array of assets provided by funds in a plan and adjusts asset mixes based on market conditions such as asset price momentum utilized by TAA.

     

    Portfolio Discussions

    The chart and table below show the historical performance of moderate model portfolios employing strategic and tactical asset allocation strategies. For comparison purpose, we also include the moderate model portfolios of a typical 5 asset SIB (Simpler Is Better) plan . This SIB plan has the following candidate index funds and their ETFs equivalent:

    US Equity: SPY or VTI
    Foreign Equity: EFA or VEU
    REITs: IYR or VNQ or ICF
    Emerging Market Equity: EEM or VWO
    Fixed Income: AGG or BND

    Performance chart (as of Dec 13, 2010)

     

    Performance table (as of Dec 13, 2010)

    Portfolio Name 1Yr AR 1Yr Sharpe 3Yr AR 3Yr Sharpe 5Yr AR 5Yr Sharpe
    Samsung 401K Tactical Asset Allocation Moderate 10% 83% 11% 104% 14% 122%
    Samsung 401K Strategic Asset Allocation Moderate 11% 118% 3% 15% 7% 43%
    Five Core Asset Index ETF Funds Tactical Asset Allocation Moderate 9% 66% 7% 59% 14% 93%
    Five Core Asset Index ETF Funds Strategic Asset Allocation Moderate 13% 102% 4% 15% 8% 35%

    The five asset SIB is one of the best performing benchmarks and over the long haul, the Samsung plan has beaten the benchmark although in recent months, the five core SIB has slightly outperformed the Samsung 401K plan.

    Currently US Equity, Commodities and Emerging Market are doing well. US Equity and Emerging Market are available to Samsung 401K participants.

    In summary, Samsung are to be congratulated in putting together such a good plan for the US employees. Those who don't want to get involved with any investing decisions have several choices and those who want to get involved will certainly be rewarded for their efforts.

     

    labels:investment,

    Symbols:SPY,VTI,EFA,VEU,EEM,VWO,IYR,VNQ,ICF,AGG,BND,HYG,JNK,PHB,CIU,BIV,IYM,IGE,VAW,XLB,XME,PYZ,DBN,RTM,UYM,GWL,PFA,IVE,IWW,JKF,VTV,ELV,PWV,RPV,SCHV,TZD,IFGL,RWX,TZE,TZG,TZI,TZO,TZL,TZV,IVV,IYY,IWV,VV,DLN,RSP,SCHX,SHY,SHV,VGSH,PLK,USY,IVW,IWZ,JKE,VUG,ELG,QQQQ,RPG,

     

     

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  • The Buffett Ratio (Market Value to GNP) Increases

    12/14/2010

    Warren Buffett created a ratio of the market value of all US publicly traded securities to Gross National Product (GNP) as a yardstick to measure stock market valuation

    MyPlanIQ has been tracking this index and presents the current status. This will be reported every other week (bi-weekly)

    On Dec 10, 2010, the ratio of the total stock market capitalization to GNP was 88%.

    This compares to November 26, 2010, when the ratio was 84% which is in the fair market range.

    click to enlarge images

    The trend is clearly increasing as the appetite for equities remain -- especially in light of fixed income assets having a poor outlook.

    The valuations are still in the fair market region, which would point to a continuing increase in the value of equities in the short term.

     

    labels:investment,

    Symbols:AGG,BND,CIU,CSJ,DBA,DBC,EEM,EFA,GSG,HYG,ICF,IEF,IWM,IYR,JNK,LQD,MBB,MDY,MUB,PHB,QQQQ,SHV,SHY,SPY,TLT,USO,VEU,VNQ,VWO,

     

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  • U.S. Stocks Strong; Other Bond Markets Continue to Slump

    12/13/2010

    Last week, we continued to observe major weakness in fixed income markets. From our Market View, one can see that most bond ETFs underwent 1-2% loss. Municipal bonds and intermediate term treasuries were the biggest losers. Municipal bonds were avoided due to the concerns on the dire financial situations of state and local governments, let alone the extreme low yields to begin with. Investors were also worried about longer term bonds, including treasuries and corporate bonds based on inflation outlook.

    Based on the major asset price trends in the following table, other noticeable developments include:

    1. US Stocks were very strong, now placed in the third spot among all other major asset classes.
    2. US REITs continued their weakness, losing 1.3% last week and were out of top five spots.
    3. all fixed income asset classes were at the bottom of the ranking: the lower the perceived risks based on conventional wisdom, the lower their rankings were.
    4. Broad base commodities were relatively intact while gold continued its correction.
    Assets Class Symbols 12/10
    Trend
    Score    		 12/03
    Trend
    Score    		 Direction
    Frontier Market Stks (FRN) 13.93% 13.33% ^
    International REITs (RWX) 10.35% 10.73% v
    US Stocks (VTI) 10.21% 9.57% ^
    Emerging Market Stks (VWO) 9.64% 11.67% v
    Gold (GLD) 9.46% 11.1% v
    Commodities (GSG) 8.74% 10.22% v
    US Equity REITs (VNQ) 7.67% 9.21% v
    International Developed Stks (EFA) 6.51% 6.94% v
    US High Yield Bonds (JNK) 4.33% 4.81% v
    Emerging Mkt Bonds (PCY) 2.82% 3.14% v
    US Credit Bonds (CFT) 0.72% 0.94% v
    International Treasury Bonds (BWX) 0.54% 0.98% v
    Treasury Bills (SHV) 0.03% 0.03% v
    Total US Bonds (BND) -0.19% 0.59% v
    Intermediate Treasuries (IEF) -0.73% 1.03% v
    Mortgage Back Bonds (MBB) -1.71% -1.8% ^
    Municipal Bonds (MUB) -3.5% -1.81% v

    The takeaway is that investors continued their strong risk appetite. Among risk assets, US stocks stood out as worries in European debt markets and inflation pressure in emerging markets dampened demands on those assets.

     

    labels:investment,

    Symbols:AGG,BND,BWX,CFT,DBA,DBC,EEM,EFA,EMB,FRN,GLD,GSG,HYG,ICF,IEF,IWM,IYR,JNK,MBB,MDY,MUB,PCY,PHB,QQQQ,RWX,SHV,SLV,SPY,TLT,VEU,VNQ,VTI,VWO,

     

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  • U.S. Sectors Up on Economic Hopes

    12/11/2010

    U.S. sectors provide insight into the parts of the US economy that are flourishing or floundering. It plays an important role in asset allocation strategy such as MyPlanIQ Tactical Asset Allocation. MyPlanIQ tracks detailed weekly U.S. sectors trend movements. We use ETFs that represent each sector and present the results here. More details can be found in MyPlanIQ 360 Degree Market View.

    Asset Class

    Symbols   

    12/08
    Trend
    Score      

    12/01
    Trend
    Score     

    Direction

    Energy

    (XLE)

    15.39%

    13.95%

           ^

    Consumer Discretionary  

    (XLY)

    14.38%

    12.9%

           ^

    Industrials

    (XLI)

    13.36%

    11.29%

           ^

    Materials

    (XLB)

    12.73%

    10.52%

           ^

    Technology

    (XLK)

    10.47%

    7.77%

           ^

    Telecom

    (IYZ)

    9.55%

    7.74%

           ^

    Financial

    (XLF)

    6.34%

    1.32%

           ^

    Consumer Staples

    (XLP)

    6.33%

    5.05%

           ^

    Healthcare

    (XLV)

    3.84%

    2.96%

           ^

    Utilities

    (XLU)

    2.05%

    2.71%

           v

     

    Top Three Indicators

     

    U.S. sectors rallied in the week ended on 12/8, helped by a stream of positive economic news.

    The Consumer Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) should be a barometer of the strength of U.S. consumer throughout the holiday season. Thanks to encouraging reads on consumer spending in the holiday shopping season, sentiment on the retail sector has been bullish recently. The extension of the Bush-era tax cut is expected to add to the positive tone in the retail markets and companies with exposure to consumers stand to benefit. Against this favorable backdrop, (XLY) makes an attractive momentum play.

    Energy Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) topped our table with the highest trend score of 15.39%. The ETF benefited from a sharp fall in U.S. energy inventories which pushed oil prices higher and a pick-up in demand for oil across the globe as economic activity increases. Outlook remains positive - oil prices to break the psychologically important level of 90 dollars per barrel is expected by the end of 2010. With huge buying in the oil sector, (XLE) appears ready to rise higher.


    Bottom Three Indicators

    Government data show spending on health care continuing to rise and the healthcare sector also benefited from the better market environment. (XLV) rose in the week ended on 12/8 with a modest weekly gain of 0.29%. Upward momentum could continue in the healthcare sector as it becomes a focus for buyout activities with the increasing numbers of deals announced lately.

    The utilities sector was the only sector to end in red. Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU) registered a weekly loss of 0.75%, continuing its recent downward trend. As we get more news pointing to an uptick in economic data and economic recovery to gain steam in 2011, defensive stalwarts such as the utilities sector might underperform and lag behind sectors such as consumer discretionary (XLY) and materials (XLB) that have traditionally done well during the upswing of the economic cycle.

     

    labels:investment,

    Symbols:XLY,IYZ,XLI,XLB,XLK,XLE,XLF,XLP,XLU,XLV,SPY,QQQQ,IWM,MDY,EFA,VEU,EEM,VWO,IYR,ICF,VNQ,GSG,DBC,DBA,USO,LQD,CSJ,CIU,HYG,JNK,PHB,TLT,IEF,SHY,SHV,BND,AGG,MUB,MBB,


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  • Walmart Retirement Plan is Not as Stellar as the Company's Performance

    12/09/2010

  • The Smart Money’s Appetite for Risk, Rekindled

    12/09/2010

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    12/08/2010

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