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Friday, November 20, 2009

What Goes Into ETF Trading

By Patrick Deaton

An exchange traded fund -- which is what an ETF is -- can be a great investment vehicle for those who are looking for solid rates of return on investment and who have the time to delve a little into the intricacies of ETF trading. Basically, ETFs are what are called "index funds" because they track one of the major market indexes out there, such as the S&P 500.

They sometimes are also what are called "trusts." Either way, they usually are constituted much like mutual funds in that they contain a basket of various securities. Also, they are listed on a stock exchange and can be traded all day long, which the industry refers to as "intraday." This means that trading activities in the fund are looked at on a trading day basis.

There are over 100 different exchange traded funds listed by the American Stock Exchange. These funds represent a wide range of indexes and market sectors, including industries, all of the broader stock market indexes, most sectors in the markets and also international regions around the world. An ETF can also engage in representation of Treasury and corporate bond indexes.

Those investors who are thinking of participating in ETFs should know that investors will be buying and selling shares based on the collective performance of a particular portfolio which is treated as a single security. The benefits to such trading activity are numerous, including that this combines stock investment liquidity with the stability of investing in index funds.

Any size investor (large institutional or small individual) will readily see the numerous advantages to participation in an exchange traded fund. Small investors normally are participating through a trading system, so keep that in mind. Costs involved in running an ETF are usually much lower and -- as they are not indexed based -- management fees are also very low.

This is particularly attractive, and is made possible because an ETF is not considered to be actively managed on a very close basis. In other words, there are not a lot of movements in the fund that require management to get involved on trades and such. This is supported by the fact that studies reveal that there is no advantage with actively managed funds over these kinds.

ETFs can operate in this way (meaning non-active management) because they tie their net asset value on each trading day to the assets that underlie the fund. This can make an ETF extremely transparent because it tends to replicate the holdings that are contained in the index that the ETF is tied to and which it tracks on a daily and intraday basis.

Many small investors of the non-institutional variety go one of two ways when trading in an ETF; they usually trade all day or they make their moves to single trades carried out at at the end of the day. There is really no restriction placed upon trading activities by the ETF when it comes to this, though. ETF trading, then, usually turns out to be very easy. - 23162

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