RE:" SPDR's and WEBS..."
...or, "international investing for dummies" (^_^)
The AMEX lists a nifty little Money Manager beater called SPY,
or SPDR - Standard & Poor's Depository Receipts. It is
the S&P-500 index in common stock form; even pays dividends at
an annual rate of around 1.25% based on its component stocks. There's
also Diamonds, symbol DIA, based on the DJIA-30 index.
Also on the AMEX are WEBS - these are World-Wide Equity-Based
Securities; each represents an index from some country; and they, too
can be bought and sold just like common stock. WEBS pay dividends just
like SPY (in U.S. dollars) and they are pretty good substitutes for
more exotic index options. Here is a hypothetical portfolio consisting
of SPY and all the WEBS, which assumes that 100s of each
was bought on the first trading day of the year...
SYMBOL DIV YLD YTD GAIN 100s VALUE CAPITAL
SPY S & P 500 1.25% + 14.04% $11,188.75 27.156%
EWA AUSTRALIA 3.80% + 11.49% $ 1,031.25 2.519%
EWO AUSTRIA 1.13% + 17.06% $ 1,243.75 3.038%
EWK BELGIUM 3.64% + 19.12% $ 2,025.00 4.946%
EWC CANADA 1.57% + 13.55% $ 1,518.75 3.709%
EWQ FRANCE 1.89% + 25.78% $ 2,012.50 4.915%
EWG GERMANY 0.60% + 21.68% $ 2,175.00 5.312%
EWH HONG KONG 6.39% - 4.44% $ 1,075.00 2.626%
EWI ITALY 1.39% + 35.58% $ 2,762.50 6.725%
EWJ JAPAN 0.05% + 6.96% $ 1,056.25 2.580%
EWM MALAYSIA 0.77% + 18.75% $ 593.75 1.450%
EWW MEXICO 3.38% - 7.63% $ 1,512.50 3.694%
EWN NETHERLANDS 3.43% + 22.40% $ 2,800.00 6.839%
EWS SINGAPORE 0.79% + 1.85% $ 687.50 1.679%
EWP SPAIN 3.63% + 52.17% $ 3,062.50 7.480%
EWD SWEDEN 3.50% + 24.15% $ 2,281.25 5.572%
EWL SWITZERLAND 3.11% + 19.11% $ 1,831.25 4.473%
EWU ENGLAND 2.73% + 18.97% $ 2,156.25 5.266%
TOTAL PORTFOLIO : $ 34,612. + 18.29% = $ 6,331.25 $ 40,943.
...assumes 100s of each issue, purchased 02-JAN-98...
-Steve |
