ETF Trends
05-16-2008, 07:10 PM
ETF Trends - Keeping a Grip on Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
http://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/16/photo_lg_spain.jpg Spain's economy is still growing, but at a slower pace, and it could reflect in the country's exchange traded fund (ETF).
Ben Sills for Bloomberg reports (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=anY1qNBI8tlk&refer=europe) that the Spanish economy grew only 0.3% in the first quarter, the slowest since the third quarter of 2000, and less than half of the 0.8% seen the quarter before. So what's going on?
Home sales (or lack thereof) are a big culprit, as they fell by 25% in the year to February as mortgage costs rose, banks tightened credit for potential buyers and unemployment took over. Sound familiar? Economists say there is a 50% chance the Spanish economy will slip into a recession.
Spanish building companies are slumped, some by as much as 83%, and the real estate slowdown is likely to be worse than anticipated. The economic conditions because of housing (http://www.etftrends.com/2008/04/us-housing-woes.html) in Spain is similar to that in the United States. In fact, our own domestic crisis appears to be taking its toll worldwide.
iShares MSCI Spain Index (EWP (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ewp)) has 38.3% of assets spread across financial services. Year-to-date, the fund is up 2.3%. Can it hang on in spite of our woes here?
http://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/16/z_6.png (http://etftrends.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/16/z_6.png)
For full disclosure, Tom Lydon's clients own shares of EWP.
complete story here... (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/etftrends-feed/~3/291925804/spain-economy-e.html)
http://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/16/photo_lg_spain.jpg Spain's economy is still growing, but at a slower pace, and it could reflect in the country's exchange traded fund (ETF).
Ben Sills for Bloomberg reports (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=anY1qNBI8tlk&refer=europe) that the Spanish economy grew only 0.3% in the first quarter, the slowest since the third quarter of 2000, and less than half of the 0.8% seen the quarter before. So what's going on?
Home sales (or lack thereof) are a big culprit, as they fell by 25% in the year to February as mortgage costs rose, banks tightened credit for potential buyers and unemployment took over. Sound familiar? Economists say there is a 50% chance the Spanish economy will slip into a recession.
Spanish building companies are slumped, some by as much as 83%, and the real estate slowdown is likely to be worse than anticipated. The economic conditions because of housing (http://www.etftrends.com/2008/04/us-housing-woes.html) in Spain is similar to that in the United States. In fact, our own domestic crisis appears to be taking its toll worldwide.
iShares MSCI Spain Index (EWP (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ewp)) has 38.3% of assets spread across financial services. Year-to-date, the fund is up 2.3%. Can it hang on in spite of our woes here?
http://www.etftrends.com/images/2008/05/16/z_6.png (http://etftrends.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/16/z_6.png)
For full disclosure, Tom Lydon's clients own shares of EWP.
complete story here... (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/etftrends-feed/~3/291925804/spain-economy-e.html)