Jim Woods
Under A Benevolent Mushroom Cloud
Growing up as a child during the Cold War, I had a persistent, if not immediate, sense of fear omnipresent in my mind. That interred fear was caused by what was then a very real possibility of a global thermonuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Indeed, the horrifying idea of a […]
The Sky’s the Limit with This Aerospace and Defense ETF
This article is the sixth in a series exploring equal-weight ETFs. For investors looking to diversify their portfolio, the sky is the limit with the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (NYSE:XAR). This exchange-traded fund (ETF) has a unique composition compared to similar funds. The fund is primarily comprised of aerospace and defense stocks, as […]
Seeking Solace in an Equal-Weight Cybersecurity ETF
This article is the fifth in a series exploring equal-weight ETFs. After a plethora of cybersecurity-related incidents perpetrated by both state and non-state actors around the globe against the United States, Europe and beyond, the importance of cybersecurity defenses and countermeasures in both national and corporate security has been thrust into the limelight. As a […]
Digesting a Tide Pod
A few years back, the mainstream news was packed with the absurdity of a new game being played by adolescents called the “Tide Pod Challenge.” This “game” involved kids eating the Tide laundry detergent pods, despite the fact that eating them was poisonous, dangerous and even lethal. Moreover, they filmed themselves doing it. Aww, such […]
Presenting a Pure Play on the Booming Biotech Industry
This article is the fourth in a series exploring equal-weight ETFs The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEARCA:XBI) seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the total return performance of the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index. The exchange-traded fund (ETF) seeks to provide exposure to the Biotechnology segment of the S&P […]
Some Kind of Wonderful
Today, I watched something wonderful. That something was the second space flight of Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ company that is dedicated to making space travel a commercial venture for individual citizens, not just professional astronauts. One citizen of note on this flight was a man who’s acutely associated with space, and he is Captain Kirk […]