Reducing Risk With Bond ETFs By Paying Attention To Duration

By Niklashausen:Stocks are hot, bonds not. But not all bond ETFs are doing badly, and some are performing better than others.

By The Financial Lexicon:On Thursday, Vanguard announced that its High-Yield Corporate Fund was closing to most new investors. Unless you are a part of Vanguard's Asset Management Services or Vanguard's Flagship Services, you will not be able to open a new position in the fund. The closure affects both Investor and Admiral Shares. At this time, existing investors are still allowed to add to their current holdings in the fund.

Michael Johnston submits:Crumbling global equity markets have been the story of recent weeks, as investors around the world endure increased levels of volatility related to Europe’s deteriorating fiscal situation and concerns over government debt levels. Furthermore, tame inflation and a stronger dollar has tempered demand for inflation-protected securities as well as most precious metals.

By Gary Gordon: Wasn’t it just a week ago when the 10-year treasury yield pushed 2.3%? Wasn’t it just a few days back when bond vigilantes piled into ETFs like ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (TBT)?

By Tom Lydon: Worries over the economy and global debt levels have caused investors to rush to safe havens such as U.S. Treasury bonds amid the volatility in stocks. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note recently dipped below 2% even though Standard & Poor’s downgraded its triple-A rating on U.S. government bonds. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

By Arie Goren:The basic materials sector has been the worst performer so far in 2012, the total return, year to date (11/30/2012) was only 2.1%, while the appreciation of the Russell 3000 index in the same period was 12.83%. Nevertheless, it is still possible to find promising candidates among the stocks in this sector.Stock Sectors' Total Returns, Year to Date, are shown in the chart below: (click to enlarge) Source: finviz.com

By John Spence: European stock exchange traded funds were set for an ugly open in the U.S. on Monday as single-country indexes in the region were suffering declines of 3%. Worries over Greece’s financial condition and the Eurozone debt crisis rippled through global markets. France’s CAC 40 plunged 5% while Germany’s DAX fell 3.3%. ETFs tracking European stocks were falling to start the week after Friday’s rout.

Shishir Nigam submits: AdvisorShares launched the Cambria Global Tactial ETF (GTAA) just early last week and has already seen it gain strong traction amongst investors with the fund accumulating more than $17 million in assets in 1 week. Trading volume in GTAA also exceeded 100,000 shares on Nov 1st.