What Is an ETF in Investing?

Jeff Siegel

Written By Jeff Siegel

Updated September 18, 2024

What is an ETF in investing?

To put it simply, an ETF (or exchange-traded fund) is a type of fund that owns financial assets and is traded on various stock exchanges. Another way to answer the question, “What is an ETF in investing?” is that it’s an easy way to make a boatload of cash.

What is an etf in investing?

You see, over the years, I’ve made a lot of money by investing in ETFs. Although these aren’t typically “set it and forget it” investments.

For example, back in early 2020, when it became apparent that COVID was about to turn into a major global health crisis, we knew that it would result in a massive economic slowdown. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that restricted travel, forced closings of businesses, and massive supply chain disruptions would cause a major oil glut. So we decided to go short on oil and use an ETF to do that.

To be clear, this was what’s called an inverse ETF, which allowed us to capitalize on falling oil prices without having to actually sell anything short.

Take ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil (NYSE: SCO), for instance.

In January of 2020, right before oil prices took a nasty spill, SCO was trading for around $330 a share. Two months later, the stock was trading for more than $999. That’s a gain of more than 200% from a single ETF.

scochart

SCO started tapering off in March, 2020 when it became apparent that things would start opening back up — albeit at a snail’s pace. So at that point, it made sense to sell the inverse ETF and buy an oil ETF that gains in value when oil prices are on the rise. That was toward the end of April 2020.

The ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (NYSE: UCO) is a popular oil ETF that did quite well once oil prices started to come back after the initial shock of COVID-related slowdowns. Take a look…

ucochart

In late April, the stock was trading at around $3.00 a share. Two years later, it was trading in excess of $53.00 a share. That’s a gain of more than 1,600%. From one oil ETF.

What Is an ETF in Investing? It’s a Money Machine!

That is, of course, if you play it right.

In order to make a lot of money from ETFs, you have to be in tune with what’s going on in the world.

Are oil prices about to plummet?

Buy an inverse oil ETF.

Are oil prices about to skyrocket?

Buy an oil ETF.

And it’s not just oil. There are ETFs for pretty much anything…

  • Tech
  • Biotech
  • Pharma 
  • Cannabis
  • Renewable energy
  • Banking
  • AI
  • Crypto

You name it, there’s probably an ETF for it.

Of course, a well-diversified portfolio needs more than just some well-timed ETFs. Which is why I want to share this new opportunity with you today. It’s not an ETF, but it could actually end up rivaling some of the most successful ETFs out there. It’s a new government “Stimulus Stipends” program that’s paying as much as $8,000 per quarter.

The entire thing is based around government-funded real estate programs that allow you to wet your beak from leasing revenues all across the country. Think about it as a sort of real estate ETF that doesn’t have to be monitored every few months. It’s just steady income of as much as $8,000 every three months. And you can learn how to get some of this action for yourself in this new report that was just published by our Energy and Capital research team. 

To a new way of life and a new generation of wealth…

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Jeff Siegel

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Jeff is the founder and managing editor of Green Chip Stocks. For more on Jeff, go to his editor’s page.

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