In its draft budget presented Monday, the government forecast the economy would grow 0.6 percent in 2014, its first annual increase since 2007. This year it is predicted to shrink 4 percent, leaving the economy 25 percent smaller than when it first slid into recession in 2008 during the global financial crisis.
The government even expects some jobs growth and a continued improvement in the state of the country's public finances. Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras noted a rise in investment and exports.
Greece's economy was hit by the global market turmoil in 2008. But its problems multiplied in late 2009, when it revealed that its public debt was far higher than expected as a result of dodgy book-keeping. That scared international investors away from buying its government bonds, bringing the country to the brink of bankruptcy in early 2010.
Best Wireless Telecom Stocks To Buy Right Now: WisdomTree Investments Inc (WETF)
WisdomTree Investments, Inc. is an asset management company that focuses on exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Company�� family of ETF includes both fundamentally weighted funds that track its own indexes, and actively managed funds. It distributes its ETFs through all channels within the asset management industry, including brokerage firms, registered investment advisors, institutional investors, private wealth managers and discount brokers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company offered a family of 48 ETFs, which included 34 international and domestic equity ETFs, seven currency ETFs, five international fixed income ETFs and two alternative strategy ETFs.
Equity ETFs
The Company offers equity ETFs covering the United States, international developed and emerging markets. These ETFs offer access to the securities of large, mid and small-cap companies, companies located in the United States, developed markets and emerging markets, as well as companies in particular market sectors, including basic materials, energy, utilities and real estate. Its equity ETFs track its own fundamentally weighted indexes.
Currency ETFs
The Company offers currency ETFs that provide investors with exposure to developed and emerging market currencies, including the Chinese Yuan, the Brazilian Real and the Japanese Yen. Currency ETFs invest in the United States money market securities, forward currency contracts and swaps and seek to achieve the total returns reflective of both money market rates in selected countries available to foreign investors and changes to the value of these currencies relative to the United States dollar.
International Fixed Income ETFs
In August 2010, the Company launched an ETF that invests in a range of local debt denominated in the currencies of emerging market countries and in March 2011, it launched an ETF that invests in local debt denominated in the currencies of Asia Pacific ex-Japan countries. In March 2012, the! Company launched an emerging markets corporate bond ETF.
Alternative Strategy ETFs
In January 2011, the Company launched the managed futures strategy ETF. This fund seeks to achieve positive returns in rising or falling markets that are not directly correlated to broad market equity or fixed income returns. In July 2011, it launched a global real return ETF. This fund seeks total returns (capital appreciation plus income) that exceed the rate of inflation over long-term investment horizons. This fund combines domestic and global inflation-linked bonds with commodity strategies and gold exposure.
Index Based ETFs
Its equity ETFs seek to track the Company�� own fundamentally weighted indexes. Most of today�� ETFs track market capitalization weighted indexes and most of these indexes are licensed from third parties by ETF sponsors. The Company has developed fundamentally weighted indexes that weight companies by a measure of fundamental value. The Company benchmarks its fundamentally weighted indexes against traditional market capitalization-weighted indexes designed to track similar companies, sectors, regions or exposure.
Actively Managed ETFs
The Company�� actively managed ETFs include its currency, international fixed income and alternative strategy ETFs. The securities purchased and sold by its ETFs include the United States and foreign equities, forward currency contracts and the United States and foreign debt instruments. In addition, the Company enters into derivative transactions, in particular the United States-listed futures contracts, non-deliverable currency forward contracts, and total return swap agreements in order to gain exposure to commodities, foreign currencies, and interest rates. The exchanges these securities trade on include all the exchanges worldwide.
The Company competes with Vanguard, Charles Schwab, iShares and FocusShares (through Scottrade Inc.).
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
It may not be as big as Invesco Ltd. (NYSE:IVZ) or as high-profile as BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK), but WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ:WETF) offers something to investors right now that IVZ and BLK don't ... a lot of near-term upside potential after a big tumble between January and May.
- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
2013 has been a stellar year for asset manager WisdomTree Investments (WETF); shares have nearly doubled since the calendar flipped over to January. That's not a huge surprise considering the fact that investment firms are effectively leveraged plays on this equity rally. But now, the technical setup forming in shares of WisdomTree points to even higher ground for the rest of the year.
Right now, WETF is forming an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish setup that's formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares at $14 and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as WETF bounces in between those two technical levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above that $14 level. When that happens, investors have a buy signal.
WisdomTree isn't exactly cheap right now. From a fundamental standpoint, this stock looks downright pricey -- but that has little to do with shares' price action right now. Until the technicals change, the high probability returns remain on the long-side of WETF.
- [By Dan Newman]
WisdomTree� (NASDAQ: WETF ) , the fifth-largest ETF provider, has grown its average assets under management from less than $1 billion in 2006 to more than $23 billion this year, with an average ETF fee of 0.53%. The low-cost leader, Vanguard, keeps putting the pressure on competitors with extremely low expense ratios. For the�Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF� (NYSEMKT: VTI ) , the annual fee amounts to a paltry 0.05%.
Top 10 Financial Companies To Buy Right Now: Terra Catalyst Fund (TCF)
Terra Catalyst Fund is a closed-end investment fund. The Company's investment objective and policy is to seek realization of its portfolio of investments in the ordinary course of business and, subject to retaining sufficient cash to meet operating costs and liabilities, to return the net proceeds of all such realizations to Shareholders on a periodic basis, following which the Company will be wound-up. The investment manager of the Company is Laxey Partners Limited. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rustic Nomad]
Analyst Jiang, on the other hand, is seeing good pace in gas storage, exiting the summer at about 0.05 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is 0.8 Tcf below the normal and is on track to match the lowest winter exit for storage inventories since 2004.
Top 10 Financial Companies To Buy Right Now: Aon Corporation(AON)
Aon Corporation provides risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resource consulting and outsourcing services primarily in the United States, the Americas, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company?s Risk Solutions segment offers retail brokerage products and services, including affinity products, general underwriting management services, placement services, and captive management services; and advisory services to technology, financial services, agribusiness, aviation, construction, health care, and energy industries, as well as facilitates various risk management solutions for property liability, general liability, professional liability, directors' and officers' liability, workers' compensation, and various healthcare products. This segment also provides risk consulting services comprising captive management; eSolutions products that enable clients to manage risks, policies, claims, and safet y concerns through an integrated technology platform; reinsurance brokerage services, such as actuarial, enterprise risk management, catastrophe management, and rating agency advisory services; property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines, which include professional liability, medical malpractice, accident, life, and health, as well as capital management transaction and advisory services. Its HR Solutions segment offers human capital services in the areas of health and benefits, retirement, compensation, and strategic human capital; and benefits administration and human resource business process outsourcing services. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
Aon (AON) also performed well in the quarter and first half, adding 5% and 16% respectively. As the world's largest insurance broker, the Risk Solutions group grows with global economic recovery as insurance pricing and risk coverage increase. In addition, fiduciary income should rise as interest rates move up. CEO Greg Case and his team continue to improve the Human Resources segment, which has been hampered by various issues including European weakness. By repurchasing $300 million in shares at discounts to our appraisal, management built value per share over the period.
- [By Eric Volkman]
Manchester United (NYSE: MANU ) footballers will soon be wearing Aon's (NYSE: AON ) name on their jerseys, after the two companies completed a long-term expansion to their sponsorship deal. Starting from July 1, the club's training facility is to be renamed the Aon Training Complex, and its distinctive jerseys will carry the Aon logo.
- [By GURUFOCUS]
For the YTD, Aon (AON), the world's largest insurance broker and a leading benefits management firm, was among the Fund's largest contributors as the company's lower tax rate and increasing cash flow helped drive a 35% return. Higher interest rates will increase fiduciary income and help close the gap in the underfunded pension. Although nascent, Aon's healthcare exchange for corporate employees is gaining critical mass, most recently adding Walgreen Co in the third quarter. We applaud Greg Case and his team for their customer- focused, shareholder-oriented leadership.
- [By Patientbioinvest]
Let�� take a look at his top three buys over the last quarter:
AT&T (T): This is a new holding for the fund. Olstein bought 146,000 shares at prices between $33.1 and $36.45. The current stock price is 33.01, i.e. a 5% to the average high-low price over the period. The stock has been in a bear trend for more than a year but counts Gurus James Barrow (Trades, Portfolio) and Brian Rogers (Trades, Portfolio) as biggest holders. AON (AON): The fund purchased 60,000 shares in the insurance company for a 0.75% impact to the portfolio. The stock is still trading at the upper bound of the high-low price ranges over the past quarter. Aon PLC provides risk management and human capital consulting services, delivering distinctive client value via risk management solutions, including insurance and reinsurance brokerage and workforce productivity solutions. It is also noteworthy that the stock saw a large insider buy of more than $2 million by one of the company�� director 10 days ago. International Game Technology (IGT): IGT is a global gaming company specializing in the design, manufacture and marketing of electronic gaming equipment and systems products. The Olstein fund added 246,000 shares of the company over the last quarter. The current price is at a 20% discount to the average of the price range over the period. It is noteworthy that Guru John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio) also bought 500,000 shares over the same period.
Also check out: Robert Olstein Undervalued Stocks Robert Olstein Top Growth Companies Robert Olstein High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Robert Olstein keeps buying
Currently 3.00/512345Rating: 3.0/5 (2 votes)
Top 10 Financial Companies To Buy Right Now: Spdr S&P Homebuilders Etf (XHB)
SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before expenses, the performance of the S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index (the Index). To accomplish this, the Fund utilizes a passive or indexing approach and attempts to approximate the investment performance of its Index, by investing in a portfolio of stocks intended to replicate the Index.
The S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index seeks to provide a representation of the homebuilders��sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Market Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the United States common stocks regularly traded on the NYSE, American Stock Exchange, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap Exchanges. The Homebuilders Index is an equal weighted market cap index.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Mike Butler]
© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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Top 10 Financial Companies To Buy Right Now: Powershares Dynamic Media Portfolio (PBS)
PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the Dynamic Media Intellidex Index (the Media Intellidex). The Media Intellidex consists of stocks of 30 United States media companies. These are companies that are principally engaged in the development, production, sale and distribution of goods or services used in the media industry. These companies may include advertising, marketing and public relations companies; companies that own, operate or broadcast free or pay television, radio or cable stations; theaters; film studios; publishers or sellers of newspapers, magazines, books or video products; printing, cable television and video companies and equipment providers; pay-per-view television companies; companies involved in emerging technologies for the broadcast and media industries; cellular communications companies; companies involved in the development, syndication and transmission of television, movie programming, advertising and cellular communications; companies that distribute data-based information, and other companies involved in the ownership, operation or development of media products or services. Stocks are selected principally on the basis of their capital appreciation potential as identified by the AMEX (the Intellidex Provider) pursuant to its Intellidex methodology.
The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in common stocks of media companies. The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stocks that comprise the Media Intellidex. The Media Intellidex is adjusted quarterly, and the Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate the performance of the Media Intellidex. The Fund�� investment advisor is PowerShares Capital Management LLC.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap media stock�LIN Media LLC (NYSE: LIN) might not be a household name, but there is a good chance you might be watching the company�� programs because like the Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc (NASDAQ: SBGI) and Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc (NASDAQ: NXST), its helping to consolidate the media industry plus its making investment in other forms of media like social media. The stock has also outperformed those two peers along with the�PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: PBS).
Top 10 Financial Companies To Buy Right Now: iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB)
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund (the Fund) is a non-diversified index fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Home Construction Index (the Index).
The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. The Index measures the performance of the home construction sector of the United States equity market, and includes companies that are constructors of residential homes, including manufacturers of mobile and prefabricated homes.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Susquehanna’s head of derivative strategy Trevor Mottl, however, recommends betting against the sector with options on the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) following Friday’s big drop in new home sales. He writes:
- [By Ryan Detrick, Senior Technical Strategist, Schaeffer's Investment Research, Inc.]
The action in housing stocks is another concern. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction Index Fund (ITB) is in the midst of making a very bearish-looking head-and-shoulders peak.
Top 10 Financial Companies To Buy Right Now: National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB)
National Australia Bank Limited provides products, advice and services. In Australia, it operates through National Australia Bank, MLC and UBank. In the United Kingdom, it operates through Clydesdale Bank. In New Zealand, it operates through Bank of New Zealand. In the United States, it operates through Great Western Bank. Segments include Business Banking, Personal Banking, Wholesale Banking, UK Banking and NZ Banking, MLC and NAB and Great Western Ban. As of April 5, 2012, the Company and its associated entities ceased to be a substantial holder in BlueScope Steel Limited. On May 17, 2012, it ceased to be a substantial holder in Spark Infrastructure Group and Sandfire Resources NL. As of August 24, 2012, the Company and its associated entities ceased to be holder in Tabcorp Holdings Limited. In September 2012, the Company and its associated entities have ceased to be a substantial holder in Incitec Pivot Limited, as of August 30, 2012. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Yoshiaki Nohara]
Alacer Gold Corp. sank 4.1 percent in Sydney as the price of the precious metal declined. Honda Motor Co. (7267) lost 0.6 percent after Japan�� third-largest carmaker reported second-quarter profit that missed analysts��estimates amid slowing motorcycle sales in Southeast Asia. National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) retreated 2.3 percent as expenses climbed at the country�� largest lender by assets.
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