Comments on: 5 ETFs That Can Help Balance Your Portfolio

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:29:46 +0000

You definitely have an issue with contango on USO and the price can diverge but you also have other problems with funds like USL. You do raise a good point however that USL could be a better buy and hold proposition than USO.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:02:27 +0000

USO isn’t a great tracker of the price of crude. It has diverged fairly sharply from the real price of oil. Its method of investing in futures means it has to roll over those futures on a regular basis which generates significant expenses and a severe tax on its performance, especially in times of contango.

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:50:20 +0000

Pinyo: That’s another great option. DBC is an example and it could be used to balance out your portfolio as well. I tend to prefer the more focused ETFs as they give me more fine tuned control, but that’s just me and if you have a portfolio full of stocks a commodity index tracker could be a great way to add some diversity.

By: Pinyo

Pinyo — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:07:39 +0000

Good list. What about commodities index ETF instead of individual play in gold, oil, and agriculture?