Customer Reviews

ETF Strategies and Tactics: Hedge Your Portfolio in a Changing Market

5 star:		(5)
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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

IMHO the best book out on the subject to date. ETFs are an extremely underutilized investment instrument, and this book fills a void and provides a clear and concise survey of the many exchange traded funds available today. Not only is it highly informative, but is written in a witty and entertaining style as well. If you are a serious investor, you probably should have a few ETFs in your portfolio, and here is the title to get you started. Well worth the cover price.

I was looking for strategic thought since the word strategy is all over the cover. What I got was basic information on ETF's and so I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting sample portfolios and how they might be hedged but saw nothing like this. The basic information presented was ok, but the book cover is misleading. New title:
"Basic Information on ETF's", but I guess that's not as sexy and I guess they would not have picked my pocket then - would they?

This book had a lot of well organized information for understanding ETFs, what they are technically, what is involved in construction, maintenance, and trading them. It is definitely geared more towards the slightly above average individual trader. However, I did find explanations of mechanics interesting and helpful.

I found the interviews with a few of the major players in the industry at the end of the book very helpful as well. I particularly appreciated the question about short selling. Very insightful and telling of the distance between construction and trading.

Overall, I would recommend this book as an slightly better than entry into this seemingly straight forward product. I would say where it probably fell down the most was in the claim to discuss how to use these instruments as "hedges". Implicitly it seems obvious from an exposure standpoint; and in truth, the author does discuss some of the vagrancies between etfs. However, hedging is a bit more of an art; and in truth, would probably require another 300 pages to start to understand.

When I decided that it was time to research ETF's to understand how they could help me broaden my investment possibilities and better manage my portfolio risk, I looked at all of the books on the subject at Amazon (for those who haven't yet used Amazon's "Look Inside" feature, it's highly useful). I wanted a general book that would give me basic information on all aspects of the market and could point me in whatever direction I needed for more detailed analysis, therefore I immediately eliminated those books that only focused on one topic such as technical trading or were pushing one specific strategy or a narrow set of strategies. Of those books that remained, "ETF, Strategies and Tactics" won the day, and I'm now very happy to have it my library. It's been a much-consulted guide as I work to incorporate ETF's into my portfolio decision-making processes.

Written by three consummate financial professionals, this book offers a thorough and outstanding introduction to all aspects of the various ETF markets, and its extensive bibliography and list of website links will point you in whatever direction you need to go to find additional information on topics of interest. The book is balanced, complete, and well-organized. The index is detailed, almost to a fault.

Given the overall organization of the book, the peerless reputation of the authors, and the extensive bibliography of links and other resources I can't imagine that there is a better or more practical introductory handbook available on the market. This book is written so that relatively inexperienced investors can benefit immediately, however due to the organization of the materials and comprehensive coverage of topics it will still be a useful quick reference even for experienced professionals. Five unqualified stars.

Clear, concise overview of the different ways to use ETFs and what pitfalls to look out for. Highly recommended.

As parents working to invest for our children's college education, and our retirement, we found this book enlightening. It isn't a get rich quick book, but about putting your investment priorities in order and making sure your money will be there in the future, when you need it. Why invest in mutual funds that have high expenses and needless taxes? ETFs put more of your money to work for you, as opposed to other financial products. This book is also very clearly written -- and was easy for us to understand -- and we are not financiers.

Neal has a tremendous background and experience. He was a lead educator on the CME before it went public. He was also a major force at Lind-Waldock and he really understands the financial markets. The facts are that ETFs have only been around for a short while beginning with the Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts (AMEX: SPY), which were introduced in January 1993. Since the turn of the century these financial instruments have proliferated farther than anyone in financial economics expected. In hindsight it makes sense since they trade like a share of stock (unlike the unwieldy NAV of the traditional mutual fund). This means that ETFs have successfully been structured in such markets as futures and forex with options trading against the shares. This has the astounding implication that a stock investor can add uncorrelated non-equity assets to an equity retirement portfolio held in a standard or Roth IRA. The recent advent and success of ETFs has the undesirable consequence of a dearth of quality books on the subject such as this. This title helps fill that gap. Make sure this book is in your investment library!

Title of this book is misleading. Infact, in one section option methods (buying calls and puts) are enlisted as option strategies! That will really get option traders excited.