I wanted to follow up a little on the First Trust Water ETF (FWT) that is on the way soon. This chart compares the index that underlies FWT to the PowerShares Water ETF (PHO) that I have owned since a day or two after its listing.Well, not much difference is there? For me to want to make a switch I would need to believe that going forward FWT will do better price-wise or if somehow it yielded a lot more that would be a reason to consider switching. I doubt FWT can yield a lot more because of the overlap but we'll see.
StateStreet has a bunch of ETFs in the hopper including the Emerging Europe SPDR (GUR) and the Middle East/Africa SPDR (GAF), according to IndexUniverse. Well those would certainly open some frontier markets to the mainstream.
And now a couple of public service announcements. My wife Joellyn has made a fulltime job out of volunteering for a local animal rescue called United Animal Friends. They just got their new website up and running, hopefully you will check it out.
Today happens to be Joellyn's birthday and a friend of ours gave her a kind of self-help book called The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. The basic premise is about getting back what you put out. If you put positive thoughts out in to the universe (not in a hopped up on prescriptions way) they come back to you and the same goes for negative thoughts. The book says this can pertain to work, relationships, goals, every day life and so on. If you visualize positive things happening to you then those positive things will happen.
It turns out Joellyn and I have been doing this sort of thing from day one. You can either buy into it or not but I do to a point. We have a lifestyle that we wanted many years before we were able to start living it. I would say this working out for us was a combination of planning and believing it would happen.
We each have family members who are generally negative and their lives are much harder than ours. This might lead you to a chicken versus egg debate which is fair but as I said you either buy in or you don't.
6 comments:
Roger, it's inspiring to read about a couple who gives so much back to their country and community.
thank you for that kind word. we are fortunate that we have the time and lifestyle that affords doing what we think of as fun
Roger, I always appreciate hearing about how you and your wife contribute to your community. I think that community service is important--particularly when we are blessed with the intelligence, skills and wherewithal to lighten the burdens of others who for whatever reason have a different life experience. I've work too much with my community's health and human service agencies to know that not everyone can surmount life's burdens. So easing the burden of another (including animals) as they travel their road is noble.
I personally think that it is a responsibility, but realize that I'm over-reaching. I remember some time ago Walter Williams (a conservative writer) stating how foolish it was to think that generosity should be practiced by those in more fortunate circumstances. It still makes me bristle! But I suppose he is right.
But being generous--either with one's personality or pocketbook--is virtuous. And for those who do both...you gotta love 'em!
Roger,
State Street has the original Sector Spyders but I like what they are doing with their newer sub-sector ETFs. In fact I own three (XME, XES and XOP). Nice distribution of companies rather than being top-heavy in just 2 or 3 which usually puts me off. I like their Financial sub-sector products as well but that whole sector is too overbought for my taste right now. Hopefully, they will do a good job with the composition of these new products. Might make them more appealing than some of the similar iShares offerings.
Roger,
I haven't commented for a while. February is a good month for introspection, self examination and expanding one's spirituality. Here in Indy we are in the midst of a shemongous Snow storm. Wre expecting at least 13" of snow by tonight. I'm still a little high (without drugs) from the superbowl. The past month has been sweet with the playoff run by the Colts. It was a long time coming but they did it the right way. Having a giving spirit is essential to living in this hard world. Having your spouse share in the acts of kindness gives you a bond with your wife that is deeper than the superficial crap (like valentines day) we are bombarded with. It doesn't surprise me that you two give of your time and money to help out others. Tom in Indy
Tom in Indy, thank you for the comment. As far as what you said about the Colts, hey I'm still riding the Red Sox WS victory from 2004!
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