One of the many problems associated with growing older is that I do not remember everything that I own, or why I bought something that is in my portfolio. That later point is one of the reasons for starting this blog. I can now search my own blog and discover what the heck was I thinking when I did something.
Today, while reminding myself of what I own, I saw an ETF that was up about 22%. It was an ETF from WisdomTree on Indian stocks, EPI. I had just forgotten about it, though I do recall still owning the Matthews mutual fund for India. This is a link for anyone interested in Indian stocks: WisdomTree - WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (EPI)
1. BOUGHT 50 CEW at $20.25 (see Disclaimer) I also see that WisdomTree has launched a currency ETF for emerging market currencies, CEW, so I just bought 50 shares of that one at $20.25. I do buy currencies as part of my asset allocation, but will generally move in and out. I just enjoy trading them. This particular one, CEW, would be viewed as higher risk so I did not want to expose much capital to it. WisdomTree - WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency Fund (CEW).
I am okay buying occasionally the Indian Rupee and the Brazilian Real so this was not a big step for me to take. CEW would seek to track a basket of emerging market currencies including the Rupee and the Real, as well as currencies from China (Yuan), Mexican Peso, Turkish New Lira, the Polish Zloty, Chilean Peso, South Korean Won, Taiwan Dollar, Israeli Shekel and the South African Rand. The expense ratio is .55%. This one just started a few days ago. So I did not know about it until I visited the WisdomTree site to check on EPI.
2. Bought 50 GYC at $15.5 (see Disclaimer) I had some funds left in my ROTH IRA so I just exhausted what was available by buying this morning some GYC, a Trust Certificate, that I found using QuantumOnline and only recently discovered. Third Party Trust Preferred Securities Table - QuantumOnline.com This is a synthetic floater, which explains why it was put in a retirement account. The underlying bond is a security issued by SBC Communications (now part of AT & T) with a fixed coupon of 6.45% due June 15, 2034. The float is created by a swap agreement, as usual for these types of securities. The interest is paid quarterly and is the greater of 3.25% or .65% over 3 month LIBOR, with a maximum rate of 8%. Thus, my rate would top out whenever 3 month Libor hits 7.35%. At a $15.5 cost, the maximum yield would be 11.8%, okay but not great. The current yield based on the 3.25% guarantee and a $15.5 cost would be 5.24%, barely okay at least to me, an old geezer who started enjoying Frank Sinatra two years ago, given the quality of the credit. I am confident the Young Turks would just sneer at it. But the old tortoise is almost up 15% this year and just about back to where the codger was in October 2007 in my main taxable account. Slow and steady works sometimes.
This is a link to the prospectus:
As I have mentioned, these synthetic floaters have unusual tax issues explained in the prospectus (see p. S. 50-51) which is causing me to put them in a retirement account until I figure it out. I still have a few in a taxable account but have been transitioning all positions to the retirement accounts for two reasons: the tax issue which causes my eyes to roll back into my head and the fact that payments are taxed as interest.
Added 1:45 P.M. I would just add some links from some financial articles that discuss the new currency ETF, CEW, for emerging market currencies:
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