The Globe and Mail's Smart Money section is dedicated to giving you what you need to manage your personal finances successfully. Smart Money appears every Saturday in The Globe and Mail and on globeinvestor.com.

The bad boys of the ETF world

Exchange-traded funds are the hot investment these days. But the bandwagon effect has also led to the creation of unsuitable ones

By ROB CARRICK

rcarrick@globeandmail.comWelcome to the investing mainstream, ETFs. You've got buzz, you've got momentum and now you've got issues.Exchange-traded funds are the smaller but faster-growing rival to mutual funds. This week, they received a unique endorsement when one of the country's biggest fund companies, Invesco Trimark, introduced a lineup of eight funds that are basically a vehicle that investment advisers can use to put ETFs in client portfolios (read more here: tgam.ca/DnR).

Web generation out to conquer the market

Younger investors tend to be more aggressive and expect greater returns. And the recession hasn't taken the wind out of their sails

By MARLENE HABIB

Aggressiveness isn't limited to sports arenas and stadiums. In the investing world, if there were such a thing as dollar doping, many younger Canadians may well be guilty of it.

Stocks are cheap ... no, they're expensive

After the stunning rebound in equities this year, investors around the world are asking the same question: Is the stock market cheap, expensive, or just right? The valuation debate is as old as the market itself, but with the economy struggling to drag itself out of recession even as unemployment remains stubbornly high, it's taken on new urgency for investors trying to determine their next moves. Investment reporter John Heinzl asked four prominent market strategists for their take on the market's valuation. If their answers prove one thing, it's that people examining the same data can come to vastly different conclusions about what the figures mean.

By JOHN HEINZL

INVESTMENT REPORTERVINCENT DELISLE / Scotia Capital Despite the 52-per-cent rise in the SandP/TSX composite index from its March lows, Mr. Delisle will tell you categorically that the market is not overvalued. For those who say it is, it's a case of sour grapes.

The hottest ETFs on the Toronto exchange

By SHIRLEY WON

swon@globeandmail.comWHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?Leaders among Canadian-listed equity exchange-traded funds (ETFS) this year.Global stock markets have staged a sharp comeback after last year's market collapse, and ETFs are one way to play the rebound. ETFs are similar to mutual funds but trade like stocks. There are brokerage fees to pay when buying ETFs, but they can be low when dealing with a discount broker.

Paying down this mortgage can wait

By DIANNE MALEY

Ray and Barbara differ over what their main financial goal should be.Barbara, 31, works on commission and craves the security of a mortgage-free home. Ray, 32, is a salaried professional who favours RRSPs. ''The idea of being able to retire early appeals to me,'' he says.

A mutual fund taking ETFs to the masses

By ROB CARRICK

rcarrick@globeandmail.com There's a radical new development in one of the great corporate competitions of our time.Mac v. PC has nothing on mutual funds v. exchange-traded funds, better known as ETFs. Just to set the stage, mutual funds have vastly more market share, while the ETF business is growing faster.

trust

SOME NUMBERS TO CHEW OVER / Government economic data and more company reports should give investors lots to think about this week, but continued volatility and worries about the greenback could leave many still sitting on the sidelines

By SIMON AVERY AND ALLAN ROBINSON

Expect markets to be more emphatic in their moves this week, as the U.S. and Canada serve up a buffet of important economic data for hungry investors to feed on.

Got a big appetite for risk? Then bet against America

By DAN RICHARDS

Dan Richards is president of Strategic Imperatives. He is a faculty member of the MBA program at the Rotman School at the University of Toronto.richards@getkeepclients.comOver a recent lunch with a veteran money manager, he said something that gave me pause for thought.

Cool it. Slow down. Don't buy the rhetoric

By AVNER MANDELMAN

Avner Mandelman is a director of Venator Capital Management and author of The Sleuth Investor. amandelman@venator.ca Most investors assume that Bay Street or Wall Street careers are built on being right, but that's only partly true.

Are you ready for higher mortgage rates?

The mortgage that might look affordable now very likely won't be when the inevitable rate climb kicks in

By ROB CARRICK

rcarrick@globeandmail.com You know how the housing market rebounded so fast and furiously after its recent downturn?The same thing could easily happen with interest rates, which are now close to historic lows. That's why there is growing concern the homes being snapped up today could become unmanageably expensive when mortgage rates rise.