Welcome to the ETF Prime Podcast

Don’t Be Wall Street’s Muppet

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Tuesday at 9am on ESPN 1510 as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

On our most recent radio broadcast, we discussed a recent CBS 60 Minutes interview with former Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith.

Smith abruptly left Goldman Sachs back in March by penning a scathing op-ed piece about the firm in the New York Times.  We covered this story in detail back at that time, but the gist of the op-ed was that Goldman Sachs was simply more concerned with their financial future than the clients they were supposed to be serving.  There were even accusations that Goldman referred to their clients as Muppets – and that wasn’t meant as a compliment.  Unfortunately, it’s our belief that this kind of behavior is much more widespread than investors would like to believe.  Quite frankly, that’s exactly why we started The ETF Store.  We wanted to provide everyday investors with an alternative to these money grabbing firms who seemed more concerned about their own financial future than serving their clients’ best interests.  So, how do you avoid these types of firms or advisors?  On our radio show, we armed listeners with the right questions to ask their financial advisor to prevent themselves from becoming Wall Street’s Muppet.

In our weekly market update, we provided some insight on quarterly corporate earnings reports and also discussed some of the challenges investors are facing in the markets right now.  Investing in stocks, bonds, and cash each present some real challenges to investors given the current economic environment and we explained what you can do to combat these issues.  Finally, in our ETF spotlight, we examined an extremely inexpensive total bond market ETF (ticker:  BND).  We think most people should have at least some broad based bond exposure in their portfolios and this ETF offers an efficient, low cost way to access that exposure.  Listen to the full show here.

ETF Price War Continues

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Tuesday at 9am on ESPN 1510 as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

On our most recent radio broadcast, we discussed the ongoing ETF price war after iShares announced fee cuts on a number of ETFs.  With Charles Schwab slashing fees across the board on their lineup of core ETFs and Vanguard finding new ways to cut ETF operating expenses in order lower investor fees even further, major ETF providers are racing to capture the rapidly growing number of ETF investors.  We explained how innovation and competition is the natural evolution of this blossoming industry and how, at the end of the day, investors are the clear winners.

We also answered your questions on ETFs and investing including whether it’s better to buy physical gold or the gold ETFs and why you should never pay a mutual fund sales load.  In our weekly market update, we talked more QE3 and when the Fed might begin seeing the fruits of their labor.  Finally in our ETF Spotlight, we delved into a very interesting, quantitative-based ETF (ticker:  PDP) that invests in US companies whose stock displays a stronger relative price performance and the ETF will also overweight the best performing of these stocks.  Listen to the full show here.

ETFs are Here to Stay

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Tuesday at 9am on ESPN 1510 as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

During this week’s radio show, we discussed a recent ETF investor survey from Charles Schwab which found that an overwhelming majority of investors believe ETFs are here to stay.  Schwab interviewed 1,000 individual investors on ETFs and a full 93% of respondents either said ETFs are here to stay or ETFs are the wave of the future.  Only 7% said that ETFs are a passing fad.  The number of investors embracing ETFs comes as no surprise – you can see it in the way investors are flocking to ETFs.  However, we think it’s extremely important for investors to understand why and how ETFs might be a better investment solution to help them meet their financial goals.  According to the same Schwab survey, a healthy 45% of respondents said that their understanding of ETFs was only novice.   At The ETF Store, we’re here to help investors bridge this knowledge gap and begin taking advantage of ETFs in their investment portfolios.

We also fielded a variety of listener questions including a question on target date ETFs and a question on whether higher mutual fund fees equal better mutual fund performance.  In our weekly market update, we talked jobs, including the political controversy surrounding the most recent jobs report.  We also discussed the situation in Iran, where the local currency – the rial – has collapsed under the burden of economic sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear program.  We explained the broader implications of this situation and the impact on oil.  Finally, in our ETF Spotlight, we examined a health care sector ETF (ticker:  XLV) and where this high profile sector might fit in your portfolio.  Listen to the full show here.