VanEck

Gold (IAU) (GLD) prices usually have a strong negative correlation with the US dollar (UUP). Gold, like other commodities, is denominated in the dollar.

Why Gold’s Resilience Continues in July Following the June 23 Brexit vote when the UK chose to withdraw from the European Union, bond yields fell to record lows and gold rallied to two-year highs, reaching $1,375 per ounce on July 6. In the US, subsequent strong economic results in manufacturing, retail sales, and housing created […]

BUTCHER: Thank you. Do you see any specific opportunities today? COLBY: I think there are two fairly distinct opportunities for investors to consider. One is based on interest rates and interest rate outlooks. The other is based on risk that investors might be willing to assume on a credit basis. From an interest rate perspective, […]

The VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF tracks the price and yield performance of the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index.

BUTCHER: Going back to what you said about generics being a cheaper alternative, why are they cheaper? DUFFY: The barriers to generic markets are usually a lot lower. If we look at the United States, back in 1984 they passed the Hatch-Waxman Act and essentially what this did was allow for an expedited approval process […]

Extreme climate change events hamper productivity, thus affecting industries such as agriculture, fishing, energy, trade, transportation, and tourism.

The London Stock Exchange’s high market share in growth areas such as client clearing, along with its good asset quality, suggest that the stock exchange is on solid ground.

The main factor that caps economic growth and inflation for a country is the amount of debt the country carries. Debt, if used in the right way, can boost economic growth—but it can also damage the economy.

The International Monetary Fund defines REER as an average of the bilateral real exchange rates between a country and its trading partners, weighted by their respective trade shares.

Strong investor interest in emerging market debt (EMLC) (HYEM) has continued despite adverse political and economic issues in some countries.

As of June 30, 11 fallen angel companies had issued tender offers YTD, boosting their bond prices by 5% on average.

Reducing medical costs would be a high priority in all economies, and generic drugs could provide a solution.

Last year was a volatile year for the gold market. Softer demand from China and India, coupled with Trump’s victory, had immensely affected the precious metal.

S&P Dow Jones Indices and MSCI (MSCI) have decided to shift stock exchange-listed equity REITs and other listed real estate companies from the financial sector (XLF) to a new real estate sector.

Green bonds carry the same risk-return profile as conventional bonds. However, these bonds fund projects focused on energy efficiency, clean water, transportation, biodiversity, and sustainable waste management.

Stock selection, a cornerstone of the moat investment philosophy, has driven much of the recent success of the Morningstar® Wide Moat Focus Index.

In March 2017, Citi’s fixed income indexes decided to include onshore Chinese bonds (EMB) (PCY) in its three government bond indexes.

Even if we assume that green bonds don’t offer any significant premium over conventional bonds, there are many who believe in other noteworthy advantages of green investing.

The actively managed VanEck International Investors Gold Fund (INIVX) affords investors the opportunity to add gold mining exposure through a more specialized approach.

Over the last ten years, the green bonds (GRNB) universe has expanded and diversified, holding 600 bonds from 24 countries in 23 currencies.

The momentum gold experienced in August carried over into early September. Geopolitical tension continued as South Korea reacted to possible preparation by North Korea for an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

TOM BUTCHER: What are generic drugs, and why are they important? JAMES DUFFY: Generic drugs are drugs that are comparable to their brand-name counterparts. They are comparable in terms of the dosage, effectiveness, and intended use. Generics are important because they are essentially a less-expensive alternative to their brand-name counterparts. This, of course, is expected […]

A record number of junior companies attended the Precious Metals Summit. We are finding companies with attractive development projects in North America and West Africa as well as some exciting discoveries that merit watching.

Building on the success and popularity of VanEck Vectors® Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (MOAT®) and its underlying index’s approach to investing in the U.S., VanEck launched MOTI in 2015 to expand investor access to Morningstar’s core equity research in the international arena.

The US Moat Index has been performing fairly well this year. As of September 30, 2017, it has outperformed, rising 20.5% over the S&P 500 Index’s (SPY) (SPX-INDEX) rise of 18.6% YTD.

VanEck London Stock Exchange Group (LSE LN) has undergone a major transformation in the past five years and has evolved from a small to a top player among exchanges. London Stock Exchange Group boasts one of the most attractive business mixes in the exchange industry, and now generate the bulk of its earnings from its […]

Moat company Polaris Industries (PII) has been doing well this year, returning ~30.0% year-to-date as of October 23, 2017.

Despite recent declines, the SMH ETF has risen over 41% in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, NVIDIA has risen a whopping 186.7% in the same period, while AMD has returned 15.5% in that period.

In September, gold (GDXJ) prices rose sharply against all major currencies except the yen.

In the emerging market bond space (PCY) (EMLC), high-yield bonds and local currency bonds outperformed hard currency sovereign bonds.

According to estimates by Evaluate Pharma, a whopping $120 billion in sales was lost to patent expirations between 2009 and 2014.

CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT SP) is a Singapore based real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns 10 office properties in the city’s central business district (CBD).

Rx for Growth? The trillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry has historically been dominated by a few major companies that create and supply the most important branded prescriptions on the market. Recent trends, however, point to the growth of the newest pharma blockbusters: generics. Today, approximately 60% of Americans take prescription drugs;[1. “Trends in Prescription Drug Use Among […]

As we have pointed out repeatedly this year and discussed in detail in our June update, gold companies are well managed, and gold stocks provide leverage to gold since valuations remain attractive. Therefore, it is no surprise that stocks enjoyed another surge higher in July. The NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index[1. NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index (GDMNTR) […]

Biosimilars and Increased Complexity Generic drug manufacturers have recently moved into more complex products. One example is biosimilars, generic copies of molecularly complex biologic drugs. Biosimilars are beginning to take a foothold in the U.S. Importantly, they are much more difficult to replicate, than regular generics, which equates to high barriers to entry. This may […]

In this highly uncertain global market, the climate change factor has taken a back seat. But we can’t ignore its effect on the economy and its financial impact.

At launch, RAAX had a small weighting to coal, but in May, this exposure was completely eliminated based on falling coal equity prices and weakening supply and demand data.

One of the dominant financial trends of the past decade has been a move by investors out of actively managed funds and into passively managed index funds or exchange traded funds (ETFs).

“How Moats Translate into Sustainable Competitive Advantages” is a five-part moat investing education series that explores the primary sources of economic moats. she

A distributed ledger is a database of transactions held and updated in decentralized form across different locations.

In 2016, Puerto Rico defaulted on constitutionally guaranteed GO (general obligation) bonds. On May 3, 2017, Puerto Rico filed for Title III bankruptcy.

The Federal Reserve’s ideal inflation rate is 2% in order to ensure stability and employment—in short, a healthy economy.

While Clinton aims to retain and bolster the Affordable Care Act, Trump wants to replace it with a new act that encourages free-market competition.

TransDigm Group (TDG) rose 12% in April. Two other additions, Cerner and Guidewire Software, added to the U.S. Moat Index’s performance in April.

Global climate leaders have set a $1 trillion target for green finance by 2020, which would require a tenfold increase in global green bonds issuance.

The opening of China’s onshore bond market (EMB) (PCY) was a gradual process that included a number of cautious measures.

The rally in emerging markets (VWO) has mainly been driven by higher earnings growth on the back of an improved business environment, rising exports, and strengthening corporate balance sheets.

Green bonds are well suited to access the huge amount of capital required to fund low-carbon green projects.

In order for the green bond market to expand further, government roles are vital.

The World Bank has projected an annual investment by cities of $100.0 billion through 2050 to prevent the harmful impact of climate change.

Apprehensions over climate change, an emphasis on global pension funds over the integration of ESG in their investments, and new markets will fuel demand for this type of bond.

With selling pressure removed, normal gold demand trends may re-emerge Historically, there is a seasonal pattern to gold prices dependent on physical demand trends. Often, there is weakness in the summer when jewelry demand, primarily from China and India, is low and trading volumes decline. Seasonal strength often occurs from August to January, beginning with […]

Gold (GLD)(GLDX) has always been considered a safe-haven asset, offering investors diversification benefits. This unique asset gives investors a chance to hedge and earn positive returns.

Gold equities outperformed gold bullion in March, as the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index (GDMNTR)1 gained 2.9%, while the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index (MVGDXJTR)2 advanced 2.2%.

It seems that every time new, scary headlines emerge, press articles declare that gold no longer serves as a safe haven.

Gold prices tend to rise in the fourth quarter of the calendar year. Gold prices have gained an unannualized ~3.8% in the fourth quarter.

While gold fell sharply in the last quarter of 2016, gold stocks weren’t far behind. The market capitalization–weighted NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index or GDM fell 20.2%.

The rationale behind choosing the passively managed approach is evident in the genesis of GDX, which launched in 2006 as the first gold miners ETF offered in the U.S.

It’s useful to analyze the historical returns of credit rating categories within emerging markets bonds.

The start of 2016 has been marked by an increase in the quantum of fallen angel bonds in the high-yield bond market (HYG) (JNK).

Investors are flocking to government bonds (BND) of developed markets, which is causing downward pressure on interest rates.

HY EM bonds currently offer higher yields than both high yield US corporate bonds (HYG) (JNK) and high EM sovereign bonds.

(continued from Part 1) 4. What is the nature of the cash flows for generics companies? Stable, driven by a constant demand for prescription drugs? Or lumpy, driven by growth from drugs coming off patent? The larger companies in this sector tend to have stable, steadier cash flows due to established lineups of approved products. […]

There are several compelling reasons for India’s rising pharma stature, including inexpensive labor, strong government support, and lower production costs.

Market Realist analysts recently conducted a Q&A with experts from VanEck on the generic pharmaceutical industry, a space that has attracted investor interest due to upside potential from brand name drugs coming off patent, cost saving pressure in the healthcare industry, and increased worldwide demand for prescription drugs (for more on these topics, please see […]

The generic drugs industry is likely to sustain robust growth in the coming years, and demographics are a key piece of the puzzle! In fact, demographics are shaping generic drug growth in a huge way.

India’s strength within the pharmaceutical sector can be seen in the sheer number of pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in the country, which number approximately 10,500.

Over the last several years, patent cliffs have led to steep revenue losses for traditional pharmaceuticals as well as created a gateway for smaller companies to come to market with generics.

In addition to supportive technical and monetary policy, fundamentals appear to be stabilizing, and in many cases, improving in emerging markets economies.

As we’ve seen, green bonds add value to the environment. But they can also provide you with diversification benefits.

Ineffective monetary policies creating potential future issues Policy makers seem to be focused on solutions to previous problems without realizing that excesses are going to create additional issues. For example, an odd thing happened after Brexit—stocks ignored the risks Brexit posed to the global economy and the S&P 500® [1. S&P 500® Index (S&P 500) consists […]

Shorting of bitcoins is currently done through unregulated exchanges. However, given bitcoin’s huge volatility, shorting becomes a risky affair.

After investors’ post-election U-turn, some tailwinds turned to headwinds for municipal bonds. Investors moved money out of bond funds amid expectations of a Fed rate hike.

RAAX remains fully invested across commodities, natural resource equities, and MLPs. As they were at launch, the largest weightings remain in diversified commodities (30%), gold bullion (20%), and agribusiness equities (20%).

Cost Advantage in Action: Four Case Studies of Moat Companies To demonstrate the power of cost advantages in creating economic moats, we highlight four moat companies: U.S. based Starbucks and Compass Mineral, and international moat companies: Kao (Japan) and Ramsay Health Care (Australia). Starbucks Corp (SBUX US) boasts a “wide economic moat” rating from Morningstar from […]

The attribute of “cost advantage” is the second most frequent source of economic moat ratings according to Morningstar. Companies that are able to produce and offer products or services at lower costs than competitors are often able to achieve much higher profit margins. Within many industries, cost leaders have a distinct competitive advantage and often […]

“How Moats Translate into Sustainable Competitive Advantages” is a five-part moat investing education series that explores the primary sources of economic moats. The idea of an economic moat refers to how likely a company is to keep competitors at bay for an extended period. According to Morningstar Equity Research, there are five key attributes that […]

Improving fundamentals and lower credit and interest rate risk has made EM high yield corporate bonds attractive this year.

Emerging market corporate bonds (HYEM) fared better in 2018 than EM sovereign and EM local bonds.

The US fixed income market saw a strong close to 2018.

The IT sector was the most underweighted sector in the Morningstar Wide Moat Index last year. The sector reported a loss of 3.08% in 2018.

Moat companies (MOAT) (FB) (INTC) or moat stocks are companies that have an advantage over their competitors in the industry.

One such situation occurred this month as a direct result of the very tragic wildfires that struck California over the last two years.

The cautionary advice to “expect the unexpected” makes a lot of sense for investors—at least in the sense that we should all learn to manage our own expectations by realizing there are outcomes we may not have anticipated.

Oil prices and many other commodities surged for most of last year.

VanEck’s Guided Allocation ETFs are set up to protect your portfolio when stock markets decline and offer exposure to gains during an upturn.

Spreads narrow when the economy improves and there is a lower chance of a default, causing junk bond prices to rise and yields to fall.

Without a second half catalyst, gold will probably drift sideways, falling below the lower trend line and further eroding confidence in the metal.

he second half of 2018 should be very interesting for the gold market. The chart shows the gold price has formed a wedge or pennant pattern that has been in place for several years.

Gold remained resilient in May, as the U.S. dollar strengthened considerably. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY)1 gained 2.4% and closed the month at its highs for the year.

But let’s think about maybe more actionable items in terms of growth, because it’s clear that at least there are now some signs on growth inflection, maybe not globally, but at least in some parts of the world.

VanEck GURUSHINA: Since you mentioned the recession, I think when we talk about global growth, there is something else interesting happening right now. Mainly it looks like there is a discrepancy, rising discrepancy between growth outlook in the U.S. and Europe. From your point of view, what does it mean for investment opportunities? VAN ECK: […]

Number two, the higher fiscal deficit picture because of the tax law, so that has raised this issue. It projects into 2019 as well.

With global rates normalizing, geopolitics still posing major risks, and with one of the longest bull runs in U.S. stocks apparently stalling, 2018 might be a year of paradigm shift.

2017 was a good year for both the stock market (SPY) as well as the debt market.

Capital is allocated amongst assets on which the model is bullish on using an optimization process designed to maximize our diversification and minimize our volatility.

VanEck The VanEck Vectors Real Asset Allocation ETF (RAAX) uses a data-driven, rules-based process that leverages over 50 indicators (technical, macroeconomic and fundamental, commodity price, and sentiment) to allocate across 12 individual real asset segments in five broad real asset sectors. These objective indicators identify the segments with positive expected returns. Then, using correlation and […]

A third consideration that combines the credit exposure with floating rate exposure is business development companies.

Are there any other strategies that investors might want to consider in this environment?

You have laid out a good case to consider both emerging markets local currency bonds as well as floating rate investment grade debt.