Vanguard vs. the Industry

For years, Jack Bogle (the founder of Vanguard) has touted the benefit of passive investing, which is primarily driven by the relatively low fees they charge. Moreover,  Bogle has highlighted the inability of active investors to outperform the market. Recent large investor flows into Vanguard products suggests that investors are increasingly agreeing with Bogle. See article here, WSJ.

Time to Sell?

For technical traders, it may be time to sell. While the market has yet to make a "death cross," some other indicators are saying sell. In particular, a recent WSJ article identified three signals that recently occurred in tandem: overvaluation based on earnings multiples, extreme divergence in sector performance, and excessive levels of bullish enthusiasm. This combination has occurred six times since 1970, with each event resulting in market drops of at least 22%. Will this happen again?

Do Women Generate Better Returns?

Some prior research suggests that women make for better investors, primarily because they generally trade less than men (meaning lower transaction costs). However, a new fund aims to exploit the benefit women may provide as board members. The Barclays Women in Leadership ETN will invest in companies with a female CEO or a board that has a membership of at least 25% women. See here for an article that discusses the new fund (WSJ).

See previous post (ETFs vs. ETNs) for a discussion of the fund structure.