ETFs - the new way to invest
ExchangeTraded Funds are a realtively new form of investments. The good news is that they behave like a combination of an index mutual fund, and a stock. So there is nothing really exotic about them. A typical ETF will track a number of stocks (like a mutual fund), but the ETF can be bought and sold like a stock - you can buy it and sell it throughout the trading day, you can sell it short, and you can buy and sell options on some ETFs.
So what's so good about them? ETFs tend to be more tax efficient than typical actively managed mutual fund. ETFs have lower fees than a typical mutual fund. There is also a growing variety of ETFs - new are added every week, it seems. This lens is only a brief intro to ETFs. For more detailed discussion, wisit www.wealthencyclopedia.com
Exchange Traded Funds Contents
ETF - the good
If you think that dollar will continue falling - you could purchase Euro ETF ( ticker symbol FXE), or Australian dollar ETF (ticker symbol FXA).
There is of course, the Gold ETF - symbol GLD, and Silver ETF - SLV.
If you want to follow in the footsteps of Peter Lynch (see his book above) - you could implement sector rotation strategy using ETFs.
If you think China or India are the place to be, you could purchase Chinese ETF (ticker symbol CHN)or the Indian ETF (ticker symbol IFN).
If you want to actively trade major indexes - you could do so using Dow Jones ETF (ticker symbol DIA), S&P500 (ticker symbol SPY), and Nasdaq (ticker symbol QQQQ) - before embarking on active trading, we encourage you to read book by Van K Tharp (see below) - it is the best book on active trading we have ever found.
Since ETFs can be sold short, you can also use them to hedge your other trades - if you have read Robert Kiyosaki - you will find him adamant about always hedging trades.
For more info on the ETFs click here
ETFs - the not so good
There are 3 categories of flaws that one needs to think about:
1) low liquidity
2) US market impact
3) index imbalance
with the exception of QQQQ, SPY and DIA, almost all
ETFs will suffer from one or more of these problems. To read a more detailed discussion of these flaws, visit ETF FLaws
ETF and Trading related books
Beating the Street
Peter Lynch - legendary manager of the Magellan Fund describes how he beat the markets - including a good description of sector rotation strategy, which can be easily implemented using ETFs.
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $10.80 (as of 12/14/2009) 
Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom
If you read only one book on trading - this is the one. If you try to trade without understanding what is in this book - it's like driving a car with your eyes closed.
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $23.07 (as of 12/14/2009)
The ETF Book: All You Need to Know About Exchange-Traded Funds
New book about ETFs.
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: (as of 12/14/2009)
ETF Trading Strategies Revealed (Trade Secrets (Marketplace Books))
Linda Bradford Raschke trades for a living, and is well regarded in the trading circles. Worth reading.
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $15.56 (as of 12/14/2009)
Useful Links
please visit our sister site
Top 10 Investment Books.
If building a business is more to your liking,
check out Top 5 Business Books.
Shopping for toys? Here are sites with American and European toys.
- this site lists toys made in America - given the latest recalls of offshore made toys, shopping for American made products makes even more sense.
1000 toys NOT made in China
- Squidoo lens with lots of American and European toys.
And great teethers for the little one:
Teethers
Discounted subscriptions to personal finance magazines
SmartMoney (1-year)
Amazon Price: $10.00 (as of 12/15/2009)
Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine
Amazon Price: $12.00 (as of 12/15/2009)
Fortune (1-year)
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 12/15/2009)
Inc. (1-year)
Amazon Price: $9.97 (as of 12/15/2009)
Forbes
Amazon Price: $29.99 (as of 12/15/2009)
Identity Theft
Here are some toys I am going to buy with ETF profits
Celestron 21045 114mm Equatorial PowerSeeker Telescope
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Apple MacBook MB403LL/A 13.3-inch Laptop (2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive) White
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Garmin nüvi 760 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
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Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black)
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Amazon Price: Too low to display (as of 12/15/2009)
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