etf

PROSHARES ULTRAPRO 3X SHORT CRUDE OIL ETF $17.86 (New York symbol OILD; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $21.4 million) holds short positions in futures contract linked to the price of West Texas Intermediate Sweet Light Crude Oil....

U.S. banks have improved their operations considerably since the financial crisis a decade ago. Key performance indicators, such as their net interest margins, are once again approaching pre-crisis levels. A slower-than-expected rise in interest rates, however, has limited investor interest....

ISHARES INDIA 50 ETF $38.07 (Nasdaq symbol INDY; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) tracks the Nifty 50 index—the 50 largest, most-liquid Indian securities. It began trading in November 2009.


The fund’s top holdings are Reliance Industries (conglomerate), 8.9%; HDFC Bank, 7.7%; Housing Development Finance, 6.9%; Infosys (information technology), 6.0%; ITC (conglomerate), 5.7%; ICICI Bank, 5.4%; Tata Consultancy (information technology), 4.8%; and Kotak Mahindra Bank, 3.6%....

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $55.23 (New York symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan Index.


The fund’s top holdings include Toyota, 4.2%; Softbank, 2.6%; Keyence Corp....

SPDR S&P CHINA ETF $101.80 (New York Exchange symbol GXC; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) tracks the S&P China BMI Index. The fund includes all publicly traded Chinese stocks available to foreign investors.


Right now, the SPDR S&P China ETF holds 372 stocks....

We think foreign stocks can safely make up 10% of a conservative investor’s portfolio. One way is through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with an overseas focus.


The best of those ETFs continue to offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high-quality stocks.


Here’s a look at four international ETFs we see as suitable for new buying and two others we feel you should continue to hold.


ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS ETF $43.60 (New York symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers) is designed to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.


The fund’s geographic breakdown is as follows: China, 33.0%; South Korea, 12.9%; Taiwan, 11.5%; India, 9.0%; Brazil, 7.0%; South Africa, 6.2%; Russia, 3.8%; Mexico, 2.7%; Thailand, 2.3%; Indonesia, 2.1%; Malaysia, 2.1%; and Poland, 1.1%.


Its top stocks are Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), 5.2%; Alibaba Group (China: e-commerce), 4.5%; Taiwan Semiconductor (computer chips), 3.8%; Samsung Electronics (South Korea), 3.5%; Naspers (South Africa: media and Internet), 2.1%; China Construction Bank, 1.6%; Ping An Insurance Group (China), 1.1%; China Mobile, 1.1%; Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, 1.0%; and Reliance Industries (India: conglomerate), 1.0%.


iShares launched the ETF on April 7, 2003....

A: Canadian shareholders pay a 15% withholding tax on dividends from U.S. stocks. If you hold the stocks in non-registered cash accounts, you can then get a Canadian tax credit to offset all or part of the tax you paid to the U.S. Better still, thanks to rules in the U.S./Canada tax treaty, the U.S....

The iShares MSCI Ireland ETF focuses on the republic’s market leaders, although Brexit uncertainty increases risk for investors looking to benefit from the strong Irish economy.

Traditionally, REITs are said to suffer when interest rates rise. That’s in part because their units, which typically offer high yields, compete with fixed-income instruments for investor interest. However, higher interest rates are usually accompanied by increased economic activity and growth....

BMO COVERED CALL CANADIAN BANKS ETF $18.43 (Toronto symbol ZWB; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Conservative; Market cap: $1.9 billion) holds shares of Canada’s six largest banks (CIBC, TD Bank, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank and National Bank) either directly or through units of the BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF.


The fund started up in January 2011....