iMoney: Profitable ETF Strategies for Every Investor by Tom Lydon, John F. Wasik

About the Authors     xiii
Preface     xv
Introduction: A New Investment Strategy     xix
Investors Want More     xx
Enter the ETF, the Younger, Sleeker Cousin of the Mutual Fund     xxii
Profit with Prudence, Avoid the Hype     xxiv
How to Use This Book     xxv
Busted: The Failure of Mutual Funds and Birth of ETFs     1
Brain Freeze: We Listen to Bad Vibes     4
A Brief History of Mutual Fund Folly     5
Bubble Mania: Falling to Earth Again     6
After the Bubble Burst: Salt in the Wounds     8
Bad Performance: The Final Straw     9
Index Investing Writ Large: How ETFs Can Be Employed     11
The Art of Indexing Using the iMoney Plan     15
The Granddaddy Dow: A Brief History of Indexing     17
Enter the S&P 500     21
The Stock Index Universe     22
Not All Index Funds Are the Same     23
The Closet Index Peril     24
What Difference Does It Make?     25
Index Types     25
The Old Guard Shouts Back     27
Equal vs. Fundamental Weighting: The Battle Continues     29
P/E and PEG and Your ABCs     30
Investing in Domestic Shares: U.S. Stock Index ETFs     35
Big Caps: The Blue Whales of the Stock Market Ocean     36
The Middle Path: Mid-Cap Companies Show Promise     38
Small-Caps: The Little Guys Grow Fast     40
The Smallest of the Small: Micro/Minis     41
Growth vs. Value: The Age-Old Question     43
Overseas Exposure: Foreign Stock ETFs     49
It's a Small World After All     51
Emerging Markets Provide Growth     52
Foreign ETF Expenses Are Low     53
Adding More Growth to Your Portfolio     54
The Chinese Dragon     55
Watch the Index     57
Up-and-Comers     58
Slicing and Dicing: Sector ETFs     61
Picking a Winner and Scratching Your Head?     62
A Growing Segment     64
Buying Commercial Real Estate: REIT ETFs     65
Who's Winning the Popularity Contest?     66
Not Diversified Enough to Be Single Holdings     67
Taking a Thin Sector Slice: The Downside     68
Gold, Silver, and Oil: Commodity ETFs     73
Hedging Inflation: Still a Concern     75
The Wayback Machine: A History of Commodities     77
How Futures Work      78
Down on the Farm: Food-Based Commodities     79
Knowing the Risks     82
How Commodity ETFs Work     82
Tax Treatment Different for Commodity ETFs     84
The Golden Ticket: Precious Metals ETFs     85
A Buck Isn't Worth a Dollar: Currency ETFs     87
A Brief History of Currency ETFs     89
Back to Basics     89
Making It Personal     90
How Currencies Are Valued     92
Turn Dollars into Lemonade     93
Getting Chunks of the Bond Market: Fixed-Income ETFs     97
Slow to Take Off     98
Why Bonds?     100
Municipal Bonds     100
Federal Government Bonds     102
Corporate Bonds     103
Putting It All Together     106
Exchange Traded Notes     107
Retire with Dignity: The 401(e) Plan     109
A Reality Check     110
Boomers May Go Bust     112
Black Box Retirement Plans: Costs Are Not Transparent     113
The Next Step: The 401(e)     114
ETFs Offer New Alternatives to Investing     115
401(e) Providers Use New Technology     116
Not for Everyone      118
ETFs with an Expiration Date     119
ETFs in Your IRA Accounts     120
And We Come Full Circle     121
Hedging Your Bets: Long and Short ETFs     125
The Hedging Strategy     126
Short Selling's Dark History     128
Short Selling Beyond Stocks     128
Selling Short with ETFs     129
Trading Strategies     131
How Margin Accounts Work: Some Pitfalls     131
What Lies Ahead: The Future of ETFs     135
Enter the Actively Managed ETF     136
But What About Costs and Transparency?     138
What's in Store?     138
Active Management vs. Mutual Funds     140
ETF of ETFs: The Latest Package     141
The Evolution Continues     142
The "Height of Esoterica"?     143
iMoney ETF Portfolios     145
The Rules Everyone Should Follow     146
Do You Track Trends?     148
Going Your Own Way: Using the 200-Day Moving Average     152
Spread It Around: Asset Allocation     152
Don't Want to Do It Yourself? Find a Fiduciary     154
Finding a Model Portfolio for You     156
Model Portfolios      157
Too Much of a Good Thing     162
References     165
Resources     183
Glossary     211
Index     219