Invesco PowerShares

A new study suggests that Invesco PowerShares was more likely to vote “no” in proxy votes than any other of the seven largest ETF sponsors. The IRRC Institute studied seven of the largest ETF sponsors and their proxy votes to determine how companies voted at shareholder meetings. Both Invesco PowerShares ETFs and ProFunds ProShares ETFs [...]

Municipal bond funds held their ground despite a significant downgrade of bonds from the state of Ohio. As the economy plunges into recession, cash strapped states are finding it hard to borrow amidst growing fiscal deficits. Ohio’s manufacturing economy has come to near standstill as consumers, feeling the pinch of recession, have been spending less. [...]

Nearly 40% of all exchange-traded funds now offer underlying options, and their impact on the option market has thus far been dramatic. New data from the Chicago Board of Exchange underscores how exchange-traded funds are reaching critical mass in many different marketplaces. April ETF option volume topped 23 million contracts, totaling 2.3 billion shares, according [...]

Improved market conditions may help fertilize the growth of green technology exchange-traded funds. Higher oil prices and increasing legislation in the environmental front may help to boost struggling green funds. The PowerShares Global Progressive Transportation ETF (PTRP: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) is an excellent pick in tackling the emerging technology and industrial sectors. Since [...]

Exclusive of the financial sector, tech stocks were hit hard as investors feared that businesses would ease their purchases of new tech products during the war between the recession and the economy. On the economic rebound, analysts expect that purchases of software and other tech-related products will grow as businesses look to streamline their operations [...]

While ETFs have skyrocketed in popularity, investors remain quite particular regarding who they trust with their wealth. As smaller exchange-traded funds capsize and many larger funds continue their growth spurts, investors are wondering whether the market is experiencing a consolidation in the ETF industry. TheStreet.com reports that Invesco Powershares will be closing 17 of its [...]

The exchange-traded fund industry has already grown beyond 850 new funds in 2009. As the number of ETFs grow, the underlying indexes that make up the new funds grow smaller and smaller. New niche ETFs take on smaller groups of investments that mutual funds cannot sustain. According to Forbes, many new niche funds are attracting [...]

A new report from the Audit Bureau of Circulation reports that newspaper circulation across the United States continues to dwindle, especially as consumers cut out unnecessary expenses and advertisers retract large advertising campaigns. The Associated Press reports that data from 395 daily publications showed a decline of 7.1% from the period extending from October to [...]

Investors have neglected Africa as an investment opportunity for decades. However, a recent study from FundStrategy found that 15 out of 20 of the fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa, a continent that escaped relatively unscathed from the financial crisis. NASDAQ reports that Africa could be the perfect destination for emerging market [...]

An active central bank in the United States is keeping interest rates so low that traders are now re-entering carry trade positions to profit from the difference in bid and ask interest rates at foreign banks. As rates continue to fall in the United States, carry trade investments in other foreign currencies will only grow [...]