January 29, 2021
Forget about the Covid-19 pandemic; it seems the major mover of markets these days has more to do with investor forums like Reddit. Silver could be the next target, which could give funds like the
“Silver futures prices and shares of silver miners climbed Thursday after a user in Reddit’s popular WallStreetBets forum posted about executing a ‘short squeeze’ in the notoriously volatile precious metal,” a Wall Street Journal article noted. “Most actively traded silver futures closed up 2.1% at $25.922 at troy ounce after earlier adding as much as 6.7%, while U.S.-listed shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. AG 21.38% , a mining company, ended the day up 21%. The iShares Silver Trust, a popular exchange-traded fund tied to silver, also surged.”
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has urged the bloc’s executive European Commission to set new rules to regulate ratings on ESG aspects of companies.
VIX ETFs Surge as Volatility Makes Biggest Jump in Two Years January 29, 2021
After declining steadily since last April and undergoing a quiet consolidation since November, market volatility, as measured by the VIX, posted its biggest jump in two years this week after market participants saw one of the sharpest sell-offs in the S&P 500 since October.
The Cboe Volatility Index, also known as the VIX, or ‘fear index’, which measures the market’s projections of volatility in the coming month, rocketed 62%, from below 25 to 37.32, as retail traders continued to fight against hedge funds, using names like GameStop as fodder.
While the VIX has seen its fair share of pops and drops, analysts are giving special attention to this move due to its violence and size.
Is buying an ETF that tracks US shares a good retirement strategy?
By George Cochrane
Normal text size
Advertisement
I am a single male aged 30, working full-time for the past 11 years in the Information Technology (IT) industry. My annual salary is about $170,000. My employer pays 15 per cent superannuation and my current balance is $120,000 – all invested in a high-growth fund. I do not own property and I live with family, so have minimal expenses. My savings rate is about 90 per cent. I have about $250,000 invested in the S&P 500 Index Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that tracks the US market, with a dividend reinvestment plan. I use personal loans to purchase units in $50,000 amounts, so I can claim the interest as a tax deduction. My plan is to continue investing in the ETF to a certain amount, say $500,000 or $1 million, and then allow the dividends to compound until retirement at about age 67. Also, I plan to invest a $250,000 term deposit, once it matures, into the ETF. In y