Citywire: Things are changing fast for exchange-traded fund investors

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Since the launch of the first US ETF three decades ago, index-tracking funds have been the mainstay of the ETF world. And while active funds have been ‘stuck in neutral’ the past while, they are now on course to make a booming comeback, experts say.

‘For a long time, active funds were stuck in neutral,’ says Aniket Ullal, head of ETF data and analytics at New York-based research company CFRA. ‘[But] there is now a focus on active – and yes, it’s a long-term thing.’ Read more here.

bfishadow on Flickr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ: One Way U.S. Students Can Save Money on College Tuition -- Head to Europe

By SIMON CONSTABLE

A college degree and drowning in debt don’t have to be synonymous. 

College tuition in the European Union tends to be far less than in the U.S., not only for locals but for students who come from outside the EU as well. Indeed, both undergrad and graduate-school degrees in Europe often can be earned at a fraction of what it costs in the U.S. Read more here.

Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0 

<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>,

 via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ Financial Flashback -- VISA's 2008 IPO Broke Records

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

Exclusively in the print edition of The Wall Street Journal

#France: Cassis on the Mediterranean not yet returned from the lockdown damage. Simon Constable, Forbes, Barron's.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

Cassis

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WDET Radio: How effective have economic sanctions against Russia been?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, one of the first pleas from President Vladimir Zelenskyy to President Joe Biden was for the West to “close the skies” over his country by creating a “no-fly zone” enforced by NATO, Europe and the U.S. Biden refused Zelenskyy’s request, noting the risk of American and Russian forces interacting could create a heightened chance of direct conflict, and ultimately war with Russia.

Instead, a tool the U.S. and other western nations opted to use even before the 2022 invasion began was economic sanctions.

But what exactly are economic sanctions and how effective have they been in this conflict Read and listen here.

The Kremlin

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Forbes.com: “Economic Surprises” Are Now Positive. So Where’s Is The Recession?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Continued worry about a pending recession is getting stranger by the day.

Starting in the middle of last year a media drum beat of imminent recession crossed the airwaves and the cable channels. Yet the recession hasn’t arrived and the recessionistas haven’t shut up.

They should, because we see good signs in the economy. Read more here.

Queue for Soup Kitchen

National Museum of Denmark from Denmark, 

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Forbes.com: Continued Sanctions On Russia “Unlikely To Deliver A Knockout Blow,” Think Tank

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

After a year of war in Ukraine, a major think tank has come to the conclusion that sanctions won’t crush Russia’s economy. The authors also realize that sanctioning China may be more than a little tricky, given how intertwined the U.S. is with the communist country’s economy. Read more here.

The Kremlin

Vincenzo Cardone, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons