Spot bitcoin ETFs have been in focus for the financial services community for the first two months of 2024. Last week at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the executives behind the largest of these ETFs, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) helped open the stock market.

Many fixed income investors have started venturing out in duration in portfolios. When interest rates are cut, high-quality duration could serve as an important hedge for a bond portfolio.

After a stellar 2023, the magnificent seven are mixed through the first two months of 2024. Nvidia (NVDA) is on a breathtaking pace higher while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is up 10%.

The markets these days have been especially sensitive to economic data, as any indication of weakness could mean rate cuts may finally be close. That, in effect, should also push the S&P 500 to even higher heights.

The Equity Symposium on March 13 is shaping up to give investors critical insights into the equity space. This free event will provide CE credits. VettaFi is fresh off the smashing success of Exchange and continuing to provide the insights investors need to navigate today’s complicated environment.

OpenAI leader Sam Altman made headlines earlier this month, touting a semiconductor project requiring trillions of dollars.

Investors continue to turn to low-cost core taxable bond ETFs in 2024. The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) and the iShares Core Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) gathered $2.5 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively, as of late February.

This week bitcoin prices reached over $60,000 — the highest level since November 2021. Since the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in early January, demand continues to pile on. So far the nine new spot ETFs (ex-GBTC) have seen over $7 billion in net inflows.

Bitcoin has long been referred to as “digital gold.” In what would likely amount to good news for the cryptocurrency and related spot ETFs launched in January, at least one expert believes bitcoin could eventually wrest market share from the yellow metal.

Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and investors still holding out hope that rate cuts will happen at some point, global equities are marching higher. That rally could eventually spill over into other assets like international bonds.

The Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) is higher by 6.7% year to date. That confirms tech stocks remain in strong form. Still, some market observers are concerned valuations in tech and other high-growth sectors are becoming somewhat frothy.

The next bitcoin halving – the process through which mining of the cryptocurrency becomes more difficult – is about two months away and will officially arrive when 840,000 blocks is reached.

A retreating dollar is exactly what gold needed to put the precious metal back into the investment spotlight. Hotter-than-expected inflation in January pushed the yellow metal below the $2,000 mark. But it has been rising again with geopolitical factors providing tailwinds along with a weaker greenback.

This week, VettaFi hosted a webcast in partnership with Swan Global. The educational focus was on the challenges of achieving sustainable income and the benefits of an options-based strategy.

On the lookout for some new ETFs? Active ETFs had a great year in 2023 and are off to a hot start in 2024. The question, then, is how to choose from a growing list of strategies. One powerful heuristic for assessing ETFs — tech analysis — can help.

The S&P 500’s drive toward a record high could have Europe equities following right behind it. As such, traders may want to consider European equities as a latent move if the S&P keeps pushing to higher highs.

There are more than 200 ETF providers in the $8 trillion U.S. ETF market, but I’m intrigued by a recent entrant’s ambitions. In December 2023, Themes ETFs introduced 11 ETFs.

Covered call ETFs and strategies remain in focus. The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) gathered $13 billion in 2023, despite rising just 10% in value.

Investors have been basking in the sunlight of a year-end market rally in 2023 that appears to be continuing in 2024 after a slow start to January.

VettaFi sat down with Capital Group’s head of global product strategy and development Holly Framsted at the ETF Exchange conference in Miami to discuss the firm’s recent survey about active fixed income ETFs.

As measured by the S&P Select Sector Real Estate Index, real estate stocks are struggling this year, as that gauge is lower by 3.47%. However, some market observers remain constructive about real estate stocks. This indicates there could be opportunities in the space for selective investors.

Cloud computing is one of the sub-sectors of technology that are benefiting from last year’s rally. When it comes to specific names, CrowdStrike is a notable one helping to push the Direxion Daily Cloud Computing Bull 2X Shares ETF (CLDL) even higher.

Electric vehicle (EV) equities and related exchange traded funds currently appear as though their check engine lights are on.

Record issuance in the corporate bond market is giving fixed income investors an abundance of opportunities. However, due diligence is necessary as high-yielding bonds may uncover a risky proposition that doesn’t quite match an investor’s risk profile.

Short-term bonds are generally defined as debt with maturities of one to three years. Additionally, these bonds come in a variety of forms, including Treasuries.

Active ETFs had a big, big year in 2023. At the recent ETF Exchange conference in Miami, active strategies dominated the discussion, with growing interest among issuers and investors in actively managed funds.

Even if you have not heard of the Magnificent Seven stocks as a group, you likely know the companies. The Magnificent Seven comprises Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon.com (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA), and Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL).

Bitcoin recently had a scorching hot run. It has some crypto market observers believing new all-time highs are right around the corner. Additionally, it’s having the predictable, though still welcomed, effect of lifting some stocks with intimate ties to the largest digital currency.

Higher for longer. This was the key message to me from advisors and ETF industry folks at the Exchange conference when talking about fixed income.

What do passive ETFs really do? Many investors are used to the comfort of simply allocating to a big index and almost forgetting about it, only checking in every so often.

The real estate sector represents a mere 2.31% of the S&P 500. Just two sectors – materials and utilities – command smaller allocations in the benchmark domestic equity gauge. That low weight garnered by real estate stocks and REITs belies the popularity of those assets among investors.

With one month in the books for 2024, and markets still waiting for a sign from the Fed, many investors may be looking to shake up their portfolios. What worked in 2023, after all, may not necessarily work in 2024.

This year continues to follow in the footsteps of 2023, marked by increased investor optimism but ongoing uncertainty. For now, much remains unknown, and a higher January inflation print only proves the challenges that still lie ahead.

Patience is required when embracing long-dated bonds and corresponding exchange traded funds. In standard market environments, intraday price action for long duration Treasurys usually isn’t breathtaking. Nor are investors expecting it to be.

Investors are turning toward active ETFs and away from mutual funds thanks to the ETF wrapper, per data from Trackinsight’s Global ETF Survey. The survey, which came out this week, showed growing investor favor toward active strategies.

Investors looking for a “story stock” need not look much further than semiconductor giant Nvidia (NVDA). Proving that lofty valuations aren’t detriments to the upside, the stock is higher by 46.72% year-to-date. Additionally, it is now the third-largest U.S.-based company by market capitalization.

WisdomTree’s Head of Distribution, Americas, Joe Grogan, sat down with VettaFi to discuss the firm’s message to advisors, its digital assets and tokenization capabilities, model portfolios, and more at the recent ETF Exchange conference.

A record month of issuance in January and still relatively high yields could be prime drivers of demand for corporate debt in the current market environment. With that, an all-encompassing approach to corporate debt is available in the Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF ETF Shares (VTC).

With added excitement surrounding artificial intelligence, the Magnificent Seven may be one of the easiest ways to play this trend without investing in obscure small-cap stocks.

There is some conventional wisdom as it pertains to how interest rates affect stocks. For example, the real estate and utilities sectors are viewed as negatively correlated to 10-year Treasury yields. That explains why those sectors struggled last year.

The not-so-secret ingredient that’s been fueling gains for big tech since its fourth quarter has definitely been artificial intelligence (AI). The lack of AI tailwinds for Tesla could be pushing the company’s stock down further.

In the face of still elevated inflation, the U.S. consumer remains a force to be reckoned with. Obviously, that’s a plus for the consumer discretionary sector and ETFs such as the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF (RSPD).

Many midstream companies provide guidance for the year ahead, but a select group also offer EBITDA growth guidance or targets for the next few years. Visibility to future EBITDA growth provides important context for dividend growth.

Big tech’s strong fourth-quarter rally behind artificial intelligence (AI) has been well-documented, but the big question was whether it could sustain the run. So far it has, with the Direxion Daily Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Automation Index Bull 2X ETF (UBOT) up almost 50% over the past three months.

The just-concluded Exchange conference brought together more than 1,800 people on-site in Miami. The advisor and ETF community came together to learn from one another and industry experts.

Capital markets pondering when and how fast rate cuts come may invoke anxiety in fixed income investors expecting yields to fall. If they’re willing to extend their exposure to higher duration, they can attain the higher yields they seek.

In such a troubled year, investors increasingly turned to alternative strategies to augment or enhance their existing core exposures. With more equity income funds coming online, how do the top ETFs in the category stack up?

When ETF investors want real estate exposure, they’re not relegated to just the residential market. That’s imperative in the current market environment. The ALPS Active REIT ETF (REIT) provides this flexibility.

Broadly speaking on both counts, ESG funds posted solid returns last year. But many investors pulled capital from these products with some actively managed funds being the most afflicted by outflows.

The start of 2024 has been marked by record issuance both in the public and private business sectors. In terms of the latter, green bonds are also hitting the market, as in the case of plastics maker Dow Inc.