# iShares



## cutz (16 November 2008)

Hi all,

I have been looking at iShares as a vehicle to gain index tracking exposure to international markets, I compared the iShare S&P 500 graph which is listed in New York with the actual index and it tracks it 100%, I wasn’t able to do the same comparison on the ASX listed product.

Two questions I have are, does iShare S&P 500 listed on the ASX also precisely track the actual index and if that’s the case how does it happen as I thought the supply/demand on the product itself would be what sets the price day to day, if you know what I mean.

Could someone please shed some light on this matter.

Thanks in advance,

Cutz.


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## Gundini (19 December 2008)

Does anybody know if you can purchase International ETF's through Comsec?

The site says you can, but I cannot find where I can buy?


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## SoBadAtTrading (19 December 2008)

The local iShares website has a graph displaying the price difference between the US and AU markets. 

From what i noticed of some iShares (IKO, ISG), it does track the index fairly well. You also have to take into consideration the exchange rates (AUDUSD). You can try monitoring the asian indexes and see how the iShares price move in relation to the index.

You can also take the closing price of the iShares in US (for example, EWY @ 28.43 last night) and multiply it by the USD exchange rate which should give you roughly the opening price of IKO in ASX today. From then on, it should follow the index (until the US market trades again). That's what i do when i buy the iShares here.


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## SoBadAtTrading (19 December 2008)

Gundini said:


> Does anybody know if you can purchase International ETF's through Comsec?
> 
> The site says you can, but I cannot find where I can buy?





I supposed they meant the ASX-listed iShares?


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## cutz (19 December 2008)

I don't know much about EFTs but if you punch in the code IOO you will get the ishares global 100 fund which is traded online, IVV is the code for the S&P 500 fund, there's about 12 other ishares EFT's traded on the ASX.


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## Gundini (19 December 2008)

Ok, I found it on Comsec.

The ETF I am interested in is:

iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25

You can type it into the "Quick Quote"

The codes can be found here for those interested:


https://funds.comsec.com.au/Public/NewsAndSpecialOffers/News.aspx?NewsType=Special&ID=165


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## sinner (19 December 2008)

I exited the above ETF: IZZ and as well IHK very recently.

They do an alright job, liquidity is a bit of an issue.

If you want longer term charts for those two check out FXI and EWH on NYSE as they are the same product but listed for much longer on NYSE.


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## BillyIdol (10 February 2009)

Got to say Sinner, you are right re: liquidity.  Ashley Ormond talks a fair bit about these in his books.

I am not sure as to why in UK / USA, iShares and ETFs are a massive part of their markets, yet here, they are so lagging behind....

It does not help the buy/sell spread, because I usually try and pick them up at NAV / NTA, which is fair - they are an index, after all and I'm a buy and hold investor.

Not impressed that (for example), NTA is $34 and one seller is trying to offer $37 with a volume of 500 or so, the bid is $34.50 / $35 for 500 and other sellers are way over at $40-50 or so.  On days like this, no one will bother and so the volumes are often zero...which is annoying for those of us who want to buy.

Give it time, methinks, the volume will increase.


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## sinner (10 February 2009)

Pretty sure there is a bot or something managing the order book. You place your buy or sell offer in the order book and the bot will adjust the spread to accomodate your offer if it meets whatever criteria. No guarantees the spread won't move back out of your favour 5 minutes later if someone else places a more ambitious bid.

When I wanted in, I waited for my entry position on the index and then placed my bid halfway between the spread. e.g. if buy was 45 and sell was 46 I'd put my bid in at 45.5 and exit on the same policy.

I think you can usually tell which orders are someones holdings or the bot because "the bot" closes all orders just before market close. e.g. if you look at IHK right now on Comsec you will notice the order book is empty, but as soon as market opens tomorrow there will be a spread in both columns. Usually peoples holdings don't hang around on the order book for too long I think because the bot gobbles them up sooner or later.

With a bit more experience and refinement to my trading strategy and rules to accomodate stock indices, I just use my IG Markets account to gain this exposure. Much simpler, but probably no good for buy and hold.


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## marcos1984 (19 February 2009)

Hi Guys new to forum been sitting on the sideline for a while and decided to finally signup.

On top of this i am still a newbie and had a query regrding to investing overseas.
I gathered that via iShare you can invest in overseas markets through an index.....

My question is about investing into a direct share. For e.g. i want to buy some direct shares in USA that include Google, Yum! brands Inc and walmart.

Is there anyway to go about it???


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