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etf Archives

What is an ETF?

An ETF, or Exchange-Traded Fund, holds dozens and even hundreds of stocks, commodities, or bonds, giving you the safety of diversification and exposure to many different types of investments.

Like most investments, an ETF comes with advantages and disadvantages for any given investor. ETFs allow small investors to buy a piece of their favorite asset groups more cheaply and with less hassle than buying a traditional mutual fund or multiple stocks. ETFs can also be used to track the progress of the leading indexes, which is why even professional traders and hedge fund managers have come to prefer them over individual stocks and commodities.

Like stocks, an ETF can also be aggressive, defensive, growth-oriented, or based around different sectors like clean energy or dividend investments. ETFs also offer investors another key advantage: they make it easier to see at a glance which industries are outperforming and which ones are underperforming the broad market. 

When you’re trying to decide which ETFs are likely to return a worthwhile profit, one of the best things you can do is perform a quick relative performance check. This is done by comparing the fund’s recent price performance against the performance of a benchmark index, such as the S&P 500. 

But there are downsides to ETF investing. Anyone who was investing in stocks in 2008 can probably remember the deepening feeling in the pit of their stomach as the market continued the free-fall that began in earnest in January 2008 and would continue through March 2009. During that time, the S&P 500 Index fell nearly 58% in the most popular broad market index in the U.S. If you were holding index ETFs, you really suffered.

There are some instances when investing in ETFs makes sense—whether it be gaining maximum exposure to a red-hot sector, gaining access to an entire country’s stock market, or simply taking advantage of a bull market. In general, however, we don’t recommend buying and holding ETFs the way you would stocks with long-term growth potential.

For stocks that you can buy and hold onto, download our FREE report, 10 Forever Stocks to Buy Now—and How to Find the Best Growth Stocks, today.

 

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Cabot Stock of the Week 344

From the Cabot Stock of the Week 344 issue of Cabot Stock of the Week|by Timothy Lutts|Stock Market

The bull market rolls on—but it’s not a perfect bull market. In fact, it’s showing signs of age, with divergences and rotations that alternately reward and retard various sectors from time to time.
Read More

Cabot Small-Cap Confidential Special Bulletin

April 19, 2021|From Cabot Small-Cap Confidential|by Tyler Laundon|Small Cap Stocks

Porch Group (PRCH) has been very weak recently and moves to hold today. This move hasn’t been unique to PRCH, in fact most SPAC IPOs have been soft for a while now. However, we saw a sizeable decline on Friday and follow-through softness today.
Read More

Cabot Early Opportunities Special Bulletin

April 19, 2021|From Cabot Early Opportunities|by Tyler Laundon, Nancy Zambell|Small Cap Stocks

The market has hit an air pocket over the last few sessions and SPAC IPOs have been particularly soft for a few weeks now. Today we’re taking partial gains in a few positions and cutting losses short in another.
Read More

Cabot Turnaround Letter Weekly Update

April 16, 2021|From Cabot Turnaround Letter|by Bruce Kaser|Value Investing

Today’s note includes earnings updates and the podcast.
Read More

Cabot Prime Pro Week Ending April 16, 2021

From the Cabot Prime Pro Week Ending April 16, 2021 issue of Cabot Prime Pro|by Cabot Wealth Network|Cabot Prime Pro

Stock Recommendation Tracker The Stock Recommendation Tracker is a table that features all of the current recommendations in all of our portfolios. It’s a quick way for you to see what stocks are currently in our portfolios and will highlight new additions or any to...
Read More

Cabot Prime Week Ending April 16, 2021

From the Cabot Prime Week Ending April 16, 2021 issue of Cabot Prime|by Cabot Wealth Network|Cabot Prime

Stock Recommendation Tracker The Stock Recommendation Tracker is a table that features all of the current recommendations in all of our portfolios. It’s a quick way for you to see what stocks are currently in our portfolios and will highlight new additions or any to...
Read More

Cabot Early Opportunities Special Bulletin

April 15, 2021|From Cabot Early Opportunities|by Tyler Laundon|Small Cap Stocks

We’ve seen a big improvement in the way many growth and early-stage stocks are acting over the last two weeks. Many of our stocks that sold off in March have been gaining some altitude back, and many of those that were acting well to...
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Cabot Explorer 733

From the Cabot Explorer 733 issue of Cabot Explorer|by Carl Delfeld|Emerging Markets

Markets seem to be pausing a bit, with some stocks losing momentum while a few show surprising strength.
Read More

Cabot Small-Cap Confidential Weekly Update

April 15, 2021|From Cabot Small-Cap Confidential|by Tyler Laundon|Small Cap Stocks

It’s been another mostly constructive week as many of our stocks inch higher and the economic picture continues to improve.
Read More

Cabot Income Advisor Weekly Update

April 14, 2021|From Cabot Income Advisor|by Tom Hutchinson|Income Investing

This is an incredible market that just keeps creeping higher. The promise of a booming recovery with trillions in stimulus ahead continues to pull stocks to new all-time highs.
Read More

Cabot Growth Investor Bi-weekly Update

April 14, 2021|From Cabot Growth Investor|by Mike Cintolo|Growth Stocks

Continue to go slow but have your shopping list ready. Growth stocks are gradually improving their standing, with more popping toward their highs, many holding their gains and a few finding some good-volume buying.
Read More

Cabot Dividend Investor 421

From the Cabot Dividend Investor 421 issue of Cabot Dividend Investor|by Tom Hutchinson|Dividend Stocks

This is an unusual environment to say the least. The market is looking ahead to the highest GDP growth in decades as vaccines end the lockdowns and restrictions. And forecasts continue to rise. At the same time, trillions in government stimulus will flood the...
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Cabot Undervalued Stocks Advisor Weekly Update

April 14, 2021|From Cabot Undervalued Stocks Advisor|by Bruce Kaser|Value Investing

EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, is a straight-forward measure (not a perfect measure, though) of a company’s cash operating profits. But, like seemingly all metrics published by company managements, it is usually adjusted for unusual items that may be non-recurring.
Read More

Cabot Stock of the Week 343

From the Cabot Stock of the Week 343 issue of Cabot Stock of the Week|by Timothy Lutts|Stock Market

The leading indexes continue to hit record highs, telling us the bull market that began over a year ago, though it is showing some signs of age, remains intact.
Read More

The 2 Best High-Yield Stocks for a Low-Yield World

The 2 Best High-Yield Stocks for a Low-Yield World

From the issue of |by Tom Hutchinson|Dividend Stocks

Interest rates may be rising fast, but they're still historically low. The best high-yield stocks are far better investments. Here are two.
Read More

Cabot Turnaround Letter Weekly Update

April 9, 2021|From Cabot Turnaround Letter|by Bruce Kaser|Value Investing

Today’s note includes earnings updates and the podcast.
Read More

Cabot Prime Week Ending April 9, 2021

From the Cabot Prime Week Ending April 9, 2021 issue of Cabot Prime|by Cabot Wealth Network|Cabot Prime

Stock Recommendation Tracker The Stock Recommendation Tracker is a table that features all of the current recommendations in all of our portfolios. It’s a quick way for you to see what stocks are currently in our portfolios and will highlight new additions or any to...
Read More

Cabot Prime Pro Week Ending April 9, 2021

From the Cabot Prime Pro Week Ending April 9, 2021 issue of Cabot Prime Pro|by Cabot Wealth Network|Cabot Prime Pro

Stock Recommendation Tracker The Stock Recommendation Tracker is a table that features all of the current recommendations in all of our portfolios. It’s a quick way for you to see what stocks are currently in our portfolios and will highlight new additions or any to...
Read More

Cabot Growth Investor 1469

From the Cabot Growth Investor 1469 issue of Cabot Growth Investor|by Mike Cintolo|Growth Stocks

Sellers Fading—but Will the Buyers Show Up? We’re all about going with the evidence, and when it comes to growth stocks, the evidence was nearly uniformly negative (or at least not positive) for most of the past month. The vast majority of leading stocks, many...
Read More

Cabot Small-Cap Confidential Weekly Update

April 8, 2021|From Cabot Small-Cap Confidential|by Tyler Laundon|Small Cap Stocks

There’s no doubt things are looking a little better out there as many software, MedTech and other growth stocks retested their March lows late last week then turned north. The timing of that short-term reversal, coinciding with the end of the first quarter, definitely...
Read More

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