Introducing Paul Berry’s Audience to ETFs

I was recently interviewed about Exchange Traded Funds and my book, EFTs for the Long Run,

Buy ETFs for the Long Run from Amazon.com

by Paul Berry on the Home and Family Finance radio show. It’s syndicated nationally on the Radio America Network. Here is the link to the replay.

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Fidelity Takes on State Street

Reading List for Monday, Jan. 7:

Fidelity’s new push into ETFs means it’s getting into the ring with cross-town rival State Street Global Advisors. The Boston Herald says Fidelity “is getting less and less business from investment advisers because it used to be that an investment adviser would pick a basket of mutual funds and Fidelity would be 30 percent or 40 percent of them.”

Wall Street Sector Selector does some technical analysis on the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) and concludes “U.S. stocks and ETFs now face a moment of truth after the recent powerful rally.  Technical resistance and fundamental headwinds persist along with ongoing political uncertainty. “

Ari Weinberg explains in WSJ.com how ETFs lend out their securities for some extra cash. International securities regulators are in a tizzy over how this could cause potential disruptions in the market. But ETFs in the U.S. are much more stable than the derivative-based ETFs in Europe, so it’s not much of a concern on this side of the pond.

The Best Gold ETF to Buy

The radio interview went well, but the host threw me a curve ball by asking me about my Tech Titans story instead of the Best ETFs. In that story I look at which is the best to buy, Microsoft, Apple or Google. Then we got into a debate about mutual funds vs. ETFs. Anyone reading this blog, should figure out where I stand. But for those who don’t, I think ETFs are the mutual funds of the 21st Century. And if that’s the case, why would you want to be so 20th Century? 😉

Also in Kiplinger’s Best of 2010 I picked another ETF, only it was under the heading of the Best Way to Buy Gold. I think the best way to own the shiny stuff is in a low-cost fund. Unless you think we’ll be using gold coins as currency, invest in iShares Gold Trust ETF (IAU), which holds gold bullion. Ease of trading, high liquidity and low commissions make this a better choice than coins. It recently became the cheapest gold ETF by cutting its expense ratio to 0.25%.

Podcast of My Recent Radio Appearance

I recently spoke on The Index Investing Show with Ron DeLegge. Here is a podcast of the July 25 show.

I talk about the best dividend-paying industries and the best ETFs for dividend investing. I explain how WisdomTree’s dividend-based ETFs pay dividends and mention Vanguard REIT ETF VNQ, which yields 4.6%, and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU), which yields 4.3%.

This is a podcast of the entire show, which is 45 minutes long. It’s a good show, but if you just want to hear me, I come on 33 minutes into the show.

Hear Me on Index Investing Show This Sunday

I will be speaking this coming Sunday (7/25) on New York Radio, AM-710 (WOR) from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. I will be on The Index Investing Show with Ron DeLegge.

To hear live on the Internet go to http://www.wor710.com/.

I will be discussing the book Dividend Stocks for Dummies.  I will also address the ETFs that track dividend-based indexes, WisdomTree.