Tag: ETF Investing

ARK Investments ETFs Have Been Top Performers

Posted on by Matt Thalman

After a historic November, the best month the market has seen since January 1987, I found an interesting Exchange Traded Fund trend; one ETF manager has three of the top ten best performing ETFs of 2020. Furthermore, what makes this one fund manager even more impressive is this performance when you run the screener and leave leveraged funds in play, even though none of the ARK Invest funds are leveraged products themselves.

So not only are these three funds not leveraged and therefore exposing you to more risk than you may want, but they are beating other leveraged funds. One of the main ways ARK is likely to show excellent results in 2020 is its different way of thinking about investing. They state on their website this belief.

"Not Your Traditional Investment Manager

The world is changing rapidly. While traditional investors seek safety in benchmarks and passive strategies, ARK believes this behavior is counterproductive. Innovation is causing disruption and the risks associated with the traditional world order are rising. We strive to invest at the pace of innovation"

The fund managers certainly see themselves as a little different than others on Wall Street, and this year has undoubtedly proven what they are doing is beating the rest of the pack.

So, how great was the performance of Ark's fund thus far? Continue reading "ARK Investments ETFs Have Been Top Performers" →

Marijuana ETFs are Moving

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Since the elections in early November, marijuana stocks and marijuana ETFs have been moving higher at a healthy clip. Now may be a perfect time for investors who have been waiting to get into this industry but didn’t want to be too early.

The moves come after four States passed the legalization of recreational marijuana use, which now brings the total number of US States to 15 that allow citizens to consume marijuana in essentially the same manner that someone’s consumers alcohol.

Furthermore, 2 more States passed laws allowing marijuana to be used for medical purposes. Now the US has 35 States that allow medical marijuana usage.

Another catalyst is that with Vice President Joe Biden winning the White House, many believe the push for national level decriminalization of marijuana is more likely to occur. This is even though the Republicans still control the Senate.

Finally, as I have mentioned before, with the pandemic and massive budget deficits occurring all around the country, State and local governments, and even perhaps the Federal government may start looking at alternative ways to increase tax revenue. One easy avenue is to allow marijuana use and place a hefty tax on it, as the government already does with alcohol and tobacco sales. As things currently sit in most States, those that have not passed the legalization of recreational use would argue that marijuana is being sold; it’s just not being taxed. Most politicians would probably agree with that to some extent, and some would undoubtedly love to get some more tax money, especially during times like these. Continue reading "Marijuana ETFs are Moving" →

Using ETFs To "Time" The Market

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Most legitimate market participants will tell you not to try and ‘time’ the market. What they mean by that is don’t try and predict when the market is going to fall and when the market is going to climb higher. Historically, this has been extremely difficult to predict with any real accuracy, but ETFs could make it easier for you to accomplish.

So, most advisors tell clients to stay invested in the markets and ride the ups and downs. I fully agree with this thinking because it is very difficult to predict major market moves. For example, while some people did predict the market would crash in March, not so many thought it would tear right back higher as quickly as it did. Even those who did predict the move higher had a hard time predicting wh the bottom of the fall was and when the actual bottom was and, therefore, the absolute ‘best’ time to get back in.

The biggest problem with trying to time the market is that you will miss part of the moves back higher. And knowing when the right time to get back in is more difficult than just riding it out the wave up and down.

Think about it this way. If you sell ABC stock at $100 because you think the market is about to crash. And let’s say that you were right about the market falling. When do you repurchase ABC? Continue reading "Using ETFs To "Time" The Market" →

Now Could Be the Best Time To Buy Marijuana ETFs

Posted on by Matt Thalman

After a few years of marijuana stocks being high-flyers, largely due to investors rushing in for fear of missing out on the next big industry, the marijuana industry has not been kind to those early investors in recent years. However, that all may be changing very soon.

With a few more States recently voting to legalize the drug and the U.S. House of Representatives scheduled to vote on the decriminalization of marijuana, it truly now appears that it is just a matter of time until the drug is legally sold throughout the United States.

Furthermore, the Mexican government appears to also be on the verge of legalizing the drug as well. If Mexico does legalize marijuana, it could become the largest cannabis market in the world. And since Mexico's climate is ideal for growing marijuana, it could become a powerhouse in terms of a worldwide supplier, or at a minimum, the top North American supplier. However, none of the major Canadian marijuana companies have a foothold in Mexico yet, which could cause delays in how long investors need to wait to see any meaningful gains from their investments in the industry today.

Regardless, though with more U.S. States legalizing it and decriminalization votes set to take place in the U.S. legislature, and Mexico appearing to be on the verge of legalizing the drug, now would seem like a good time to get on the train. It's usually better to be early than it is to be late.

So, if you are ready to buy into the industry, or even if you want to wait, let me give you a few options you can look at Continue reading "Now Could Be the Best Time To Buy Marijuana ETFs" →

3 Stay-At-Home ETFs For Your Portfolio

Posted on by Matt Thalman

As we continue to deal with the world-wide pandemic and the changes to our daily lives as we knew them before Covid-19, most people would agree a lot has changed. There have even been a few coined terms in the investing world that have arisen from the pandemic, with the most popular being the "stay-at-home stocks. For a large part, this new phrase has become the 'new' FANNG stock group.

The stay-at-home stocks have been on a tear this year as they have seen their popularity not only as investments increase, but they have more users who, in most cases, are spending more money. Revenues from these companies have grown at a tremendous clip in 2020. Even though some are still not yet profitable, many believe it is just a matter of time until they become wildly profitable and monster growth stocks for years to come.

The most popular reason for this type of thinking is not because people believe the pandemic will last for years and years, but because the pandemic has changed our lives so that we will not likely revert to our old habits styles of living. For example, many believe Zoom Video (ZM) has already become a verb and will dramatically reduce the need for some business travel and a large amount of 'in person' meetings that we all used to sit in on. Furthermore, the reduced need for 'in person' meetings will likely continue to reduce the need for employees working out of a central office instead of working remotely.

There are countless ways how the pandemic and the 'new normal' has changed our lives and how these 'stay-at-home stocks' will continue to perform well in the future. So, let's look at a few ETFs that focus on the 'new normal.' Continue reading "3 Stay-At-Home ETFs For Your Portfolio" →