Image: Bigstock

In this episode of ETF Spotlight, I speak with Dr. Derek Horstmeyer, Professor of Finance at George Mason University, and a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal. His research focus areas include ETF & mutual fund performance.

Many investors now prefer ETFs over mutual funds because they are more tax-efficient and usually cheaper. Over the past few years, mutual funds have lost assets at a record pace, while ETFs continue to gain new money. What do investors need to know the exact magnitude of those tax savings?

Investors have poured a lot of money into bond ETFs and money market funds this year as continued market turmoil pushed them away from riskier assets. What types of bonds deliver the best returns?

Many retail investors began trading options to gamble on hot stocks during the pandemic. The boom in options trading shows no signs of slowing down, but recent studies have found that ordinary investors lost billions of dollars in these trades.

Dr. Horstmeyer and his team studied options for the most heavily traded stocks and ETFs like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report), the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ - Free Report), Tesla (TSLA - Free Report), Apple (AAPL - Free Report) and NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report), and found that trading costs are quite steep.

We also discuss ETF trading practices and whether investors can use a market-valuation strategy to time the market.

More By This Author:

Defined Outcome ETFs For Uncertain Markets
Best & Worst Performing ETF Areas Of Q1 2023
ETF Winners & Losers From The Banking Crisis