Europe

The value of palladium as a hedge against inflation and economic calamity was put to the test amidst worries over European solvency. Investors swapped palladium positions for gold, seeking the ultimate protection against another financial crisis. Both palladium and platinum fell to a multi-week low as investors reorganized their metals positions. Most notably, palladium investment [...]

Analysts familiar with the exchange-traded fund industry revised estimates regarding when ETFs might cross the $1 trillion mark, fearing a financial crisis would keep ETFs from $1 trillion until mid-2010. However, a report from Barclay’s Global declares that exchange-traded fund briefly touched above the $1 trillion mark worldwide in the last days of 2009. Total [...]

To welcome the New Year, WisdomTree launched the WisdomTree International Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) on December 31. The fund will be the first ETF to hedge its own positions against changes in international exchange rates. Investors have long been plagued with the ties to currency movements, as international stocks usually [...]

The little known and underused stock exchange BAT will soon list exchange-traded funds in a bid to compete with the NYSE. Currently, the exchange processes less than 10% of all stock transactions. BAT is just four years old, but is already making a splash with small corporations that wish to be publicly traded, but cannot [...]

The US Platinum Fund by ETFSecurities is still pending authorization from the SEC, but a new study may put a damper on the size and scope of the ETF, even if it is approved. Peter Duncan from Johnson Matthey, a metals producer, indicated that if ETFSecurities is granted approval, the US market for platinum would [...]

In a bid to bring foreign stocks closer to the United States through ETFs, iShares has filed with the SEC to create two new funds dedicated to overseas financial companies. The new funds will be the first of their kind, but will hope to follow in the footsteps of popular US-based financial ETFs trading on [...]

On the heels of the “green” trend, Pax World Management has filed with the SEC to create three new funds based upon geographic targeting of eco-friendly companies. The merger of specific geographic areas and socially responsible investing could be a winner for Pax. The three new funds, to be listed on the NYSE Arca, are [...]

Global X Management has launched a new ETF on NYSE Arca, allowing American traders to invest in Nordic European countries. The Global X FTSE Nordic 30 ETF (GXF) offers exposure to the largest and most liquid stocks in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. The new ETF will track the FTSE Nordic 30 index minus fees [...]

ETF Securities, one of the largest exchange-traded fund sponsors in Europe, is planning to take the US markets by storm. After filing to create a variety of commodity ETFs to trade on US exchanges, the firm has hired an ETF marketing firm for an aggressive American campaign. William Rhind, a Barclays Global alumnus, will lead [...]

No one can argue that gold ETFs have been one of the largest benefactors of the recession. With investors becoming more cautious about their wealth and diversifying into hard assets, Swiss banks are finding it difficult to store all the newly purchased gold. Exchange-traded funds typically hire a custodian firm to securely store investor’s assets. [...]