Lessons from a Prince

By Jim Woods

The still-stinging death of pop music icon Prince has made the world a sadder place. The singer/songwriter, master guitarist, actor and bonafide musical genius touched millions of people with his life’s work.

Unfortunately, Prince won’t have a say in what happens to the fruit of his life’s work now that he has passed.

Why?

Because Prince did not have a will, or a living trust, or any kind of estate plan in place when he died.

That means the state of Minnesota likely will be responsible for the disposition of an estate valued at some $300 million. That figure doesn’t even include the estimated $500 million in publishing rights to Prince’s musical catalog, or future royalties from ongoing sales of his music (which skyrocketed right after his passing).

While the death of Prince was a tragedy for music lovers around the world, his death also can be a teachable moment about the importance of having a will, a living trust and a complete estate plan in place — especially if you have significant wealth, and especially if you have children.

If you want a say in what happens to your money, property, business, family heirlooms, etc., after you die, then the only way to do that is to set up a will or a living trust that specifies who gets what, how your estate is to be distributed and who will be in charge of your estate after you’ve departed.

I know this isn’t a pleasant subject to tackle, but it is one that must be dealt with before it’s too late. The last thing you want is for some government bureaucrat to decide for you where your money goes after you’re gone.

The way I see it, you owe it to yourself and to the ones you leave behind to tackle the unpleasant issue of estate planning.

And while the process might not be the most comfortable experience of your life, knowing that the fruit of your life’s labor will have the destination of your choosing is a most comforting feeling.

So, let us all learn from the lessons of a Prince — and don’t leave your legacy up to chance, or up to others.

ETF Talk: Capturing Growth Potential in Precious Metals

The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Index.

The Index provides exposure to a global universe of publicly traded small- and medium-capitalization companies that generate at least 50% of their revenues from gold and/or silver mining, hold real property that has the potential to produce at least 50% of the company’s revenue from gold or silver mining, or primarily invest in gold or silver.

GDXJ’s focus on small- to mid-cap companies allows it to capture the upside capital appreciation potential that those stocks offer in a rally like the current one.

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The fund normally will invest at least 80% of its total assets in companies that are involved in the gold mining industry. As such, GDXJ is subject to, among other risks, that of investing in international equities and small- and mid-cap mining companies. Many companies may not have begun to generate material revenues and operate at a loss, contributing to greater volatility, lower trading volume and less liquidity than larger companies.

GDXJ’s share price has traded up quite steeply over the past three months, with shares up more than 110% from the fund’s low in mid-January. Year to date, GDXJ has risen over 80% on the strength of precious metals and related sectors. The ETF pays out a modest annual distribution in December, amounting to an approximately 0.5% yield, which almost covers its expense ratio of 0.55%. The fund has $2.38 billion in assets and trades at just over a 1% premium to assets.

View the current price, volume, performance and top 10 holdings of GDXJ at ETFU.com.

Among GDXJ’s top holdings are Northern Star Resources (NST), 6.3% of assets; OceanaGold Corp. (OGC), 5.7%; Evolution Mining (EVN), 5.35%; Centamin PLC (CEY), 4.62%; and Osisko Gold Royalties (OR), 4.28%.

Gold and precious metals have made a strong start to the year. If you want to consider an investment in precious metals, then the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) might be a good place to start.

If you want my advice about buying and selling specific ETFs, including appropriate stop losses, please consider subscribing to my Successful ETF Investing newsletter.

As always, I am happy to answer any of your questions about ETFs, so do not hesitate to send me an e-mail. You just may see your question answered in a future ETF Talk.

The Emerging Bull Market Rages on

Emerging markets are in a bull market.

That’s not something we’ve been able to say for much of the past several years. In fact, it was quite the opposite story last year, when emerging market stocks had collapsed on a combination of a lower U.S. dollar, plunging commodity prices and fears of a China-led global growth stall.

Well, since mid-January, emerging markets have staged a laudable rebound. That rebound has been particularly robust over the past three months, as emerging markets exchange-traded fund (ETF) EEM has soared nearly 20% over that period.

The chart below of EEM shows the raging bull surge in the segment, which has vaulted the fund’s shares well past the 200-day moving average to levels not seen since November.

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One driver of this emerging market bull is the rise of the U.S. dollar vs. rival foreign currencies. Perhaps more important is the rebound in commodity prices, which have really helped many emerging market countries, as many are commodity-producing nations.

Then we have the rebound in China, which still is the biggest consumer of commodities. The shoring up of that country’s equity market and the still-slowing, but stabilizing economic picture there has given many investors the green light to get back into emerging markets.

The charts here of the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI), as well as the PowerShares DB Commodities Index Tracking Fund (DBC) tell the same tale of recent bullishness.

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It is my opinion that the raging bull market in commodities is likely to continue, as the dollar gains strength, commodity prices seem to put in a bottom and China continues to improve its equity and economic metrics.

The table below shows some key ETFs in the emerging market space you can use if you want to get long in the sector.

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Hemingway Wisdom

“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”

— Ernest Hemingway

Since today’s lead topic was the need for estate planning, I’ve got the heavier subjects of life and death on my mind. Thinking about that gave me time to reflect, and that reflection reminded me of the above quote by one of America’s greatest novelists, Ernest Hemingway. Remember, in the end it’s all about the details of how you lived. So, make sure the details are of your own making, and not that of another.

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my audio podcast, newsletters, seminars or anything else. Ask Doug.

In case you missed it, I encourage you to read my column from last week about the drivers of recent gains in emerging markets. I also invite you to comment about my column in the space provided below my Eagle Daily Investor commentary.

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