7 Articles ETF Investors Must Read: 7/25

Lackluster trading and mixed earnings reports had U.S. equities trading in a narrow range this week. Fast-food giant McDonald’s (MCD) reported earnings and revenues that disappointed Wall Street expectations. Toy-maker Hasbro (HAS) also reported lower-than expected earnings, while Haliburton (HAL) missed earnings forecasts but reported higher revenues. Travelers (TRV) earnings rose 85%, while tech giant Apple (AAPL) beat both earnings and revenue estimates. In economic news, existing-home sales fell 1.2% in June, while new home sales rose 8.3%. In a separate report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond reported that manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region contracted in July, falling to -11 (an above zero reading indicates expansion) [see 25 Wild ETF Charts From 1H 2013].

Below, we highlight seven insightful articles circulating around the financial space this week:

1. Is the buy-and-hold strategy effective? (Hussman Funds)

   

   7 Must Read Articles

2. Gold’s (GLD) downtrend could be tested soon (Andrew Thrasher)

3. An interview with CME’s Blu Putnam – US oil & gas boom driving the recovery (Phil Pearlman)

4. Lumber futures rising – a good sign for construction? (Sober Look)

5. Under the hood of highly-specialized “niche” ETFs (The Street)

6. How to value speculative companies (The Aleph Blog)

7. Troubled currencies – Iran, North Korea, Argentina, Venezuela, Egypt and Syria (CATO Institute)

Follow me on Twitter @DPylypczak.

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Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

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