I'd like to diversify and begin to trade "overseas". I read a short article about WEBS indexes that caught my attention. (Doing any kind of a search on WEBS yields nothing useful as you can well imagine.) My "newbie" questions are: 1. Are these practical in terms of liquidity, time zone differences, etc? (I live in the continental USofA.) 2. Can you recommend any good books/sites on the subject? 3. Are there any better alternatives?
SSB, You can get some information on the webs at www.ishares.com. WWW.Morningstar.com has a good site that lists closed end funds that trade on the US exchanges. This is my preferred method since it allows you to work normal hours and use your current broker. The thing with closed end funds (and if you know this sorry) is they trade at a premium or discount to the actual value of the underlying assets. For instance JOF is selling at a 27% premium to its stocks. LDF is selling at a 17% discount to its assets. Given a choice I try to buy the discount as long as the chart is decent. If you can't get a list from Morningstar, PM me and I will pull a list together for you. (I dont know if it is a premium service). Barrons also has a good section each week. www.etfconnect.com is a good source for information on both etfs and closed end funds. I have never been to his site but www.jimrogers.com is run by a guy who travels the world looking for investment opportunities. Hope this gives you a start.
The best DAYTRADING opportunities exist in the USA. You won't find liquidity and volatility like you get in the US anywhere. (if you do, lemme know!) Sure, some of the European futures have tremendous volume and even decent ranges, but check the point value of the contracts, WAY TOO LOW.
trdrmac: thx for the info. I had already discovered ishares. And I had always been turned off of closed end funds because of the premium/discount risk. However, I suppose it's minor compared with currency risks, so I'm sure I need to reconsider.
SSB, I agree with you until recently. This year I have started to build positions in some foreign bond funds which have been doing pretty well. I figure the risk is offset by the high dividend rates. Not to mention if we do get a flight of capital the foreign bond markets will perk up. Regards,