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In the wide and varied family of the thousands and thousands of funds out there, the exchange-traded fund is one of the more consumer-friendly ones.
Unlike mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, behave more like stocks. You can buy
into an ETF at any time, and sell it whenever you feel like it. And like a stock, an ETF's value can rise and fall--depending
on what the ETF is invested in.What do ETFs invest in? Well, they're typically linked to an index like the Dow Jones Industrial
Average or the S&P 500. So, if you had an ETF that trades the same companies that make up the Dow or the S&P, it will
rise and fall in value pretty much the same amount as the Dow or S&P.
You can also buy ETFs that invest in other
types of products, like bonds, currencies, gold or other commodities. The ETF market has grown considerably in the past few
years, so there is no shortage of ETFs to invest in.
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Moody's: Eroding Household Finances Threat To U.S. Economy
Sue Chang
MarketWatch Pulse
SAN FRANCISCO -- Rapidly deteriorating U.S. household finances under the strain of increased debt and falling home prices are threatening the health of the U.S. economy, said Moody's Economy.com in a report released Wednesday. "Household credit quality is rapidly eroding, and overleveraged households are at the heart of the economy's problems. The mounting losses on household debt are straining financial institutions and will keep the economy struggling to grow for the remainder of this year and well into 2009," said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com. Deterioration is most evident in mortgages and the ratings agency predicted that mortgage loans defaults could hit 3 million in 2008, up from about 1.5 million in 2007, citing information from CreditForecast.com.
Copyright © 2008 MarketWatch, Inc.
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