New Vehicles Target Munis and Luxury Goods

While August is often thought of as a month of lazy vacations, this year it's seen the the introduction of some unique ETFs. Claymore Securities, Inc. launched the Claymore/Robb Report Global Luxury Index ETF on the New York Stock Exchange. According to research conducted by CurtCo Robb Media, LLC, analysts anticipate that because of the continued growth and considerable disposable income of high-net-worth individuals, luxury goods and services companies "will continue to enjoy greater pricing power, creating margin-expansion opportunities and fueling further profit growth." The new ETF tracks an index that is designed to capture the opportunity created by companies whose primary business is the provision of global luxury goods and services. The Claymore/Robb Report Global Luxury Index ETF seeks investment results that correspond to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Robb Report Global Luxury Index (the "Index"). The Index is comprised of no fewer than 20 and up to 100 equity securities traded on major global developed market exchanges, as well as American depositary receipts and global depositary receipts of companies whose primary business is the provision of global luxury goods and services.

PowerShares Capital Management LLC announced that it intends to list the first family of municipal bond ETFs. The first two offerings, the PowerShares Insured Municipal Bond and the PowerShares National Municipal Bond Portfolios, are expected to begin trading in October. PowerShares Insured National Municipal Bond Portfolio is based on a soon-to-be launched Merrill Lynch U.S. Insured Core Municipal Securities Index that will be designed to track the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated AAA insured tax-exempt long-term debt publicly issued by U.S. municipalities in the U.S. domestic market. The Merrill Lynch U.S. Insured Core Municipal Securities Index adjusts monthly, and excludes single- and multi-family housing bonds, tobacco bonds, and all securities subject to Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The second, PowerShares National Municipal Bond Portfolio, is based on a soon-to-be launched Merrill Lynch U.S. Core Municipal Securities Index that will be designed to track the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade tax-exempt long-term debt publicly issued by a U.S. municipality in the U.S. domestic market. The Merrill Lynch US Core Municipal Securities Index also adjusts monthly, and excludes single- and multi-family housing bonds, tobacco bonds, and all securities subject to AMT.