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An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a basket of stocks that trades on an exchange with the same simplicity and liquidity of an individual stock. By the end of 2007, 546 ETFs were trading on U.S. exchanges and some 450 were in registration. The total asset growth of ETFs has been equally impressive, doubling every year since 1994 and reaching $5.8 billion in 2007.

In Trading ETFs: Gaining an Edge with Technical Analysis money manager Deron Wagner introduces the major types and families of ETFs and then provides step-by-step guidance to picking and trading funds.

Benefits of ETFs include:

• Exposure to equities at a lower level of risk than trading individual stocks
• Lower fees
• Access to markets that were previously difficult and expensive to participate in, including: Government Treasury bonds, international markets, commodities and even currencies.

Unlike other books on ETFs, Wagner's strategies are based on technical analysis, a method of timing the market that greatly improves an investor's chances of predicting short and intermediate term ETF trends.

Benefits of Wagner's approach include:

• A 'top down' trading strategy that increases an investor's odds of success
• A method for identifying the strongest sector indexes
• A method for identifying the ETF families with the greatest relative strength

ETFs are as easy to invest in as mutual funds and they will soon be as popular. Wagner's comprehensive catalog of the ETFs now available, his insights into successful trading techniques, and his solid research and informative examples, will be an invaluable resource for everyone trying to come up to speed on this new investment opportunity.

Gold Medal Winner (tie), Investing Category, Axiom Business Book Awards (2009)