ETF Filed To Track Housing Prices (UMM, DMM)

MacroMarkets LLC has announced that its subsidiary MacroShares Housing Depositor has now filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for exchange-traded securities that will allow investors to invest in the upward and the inverse movement of U.S. home prices.

MacroShares Major Metro Housing Up and Down securities will be based on the S&P/Case-Shiller Composite-10 Home Price Index, which is a a nationally recognized gauge for U.S. home prices.  For a representation, it tracks the following cities: Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. 

We would like to note that with this not having any representation in Texas at all that it is not at all a full representation, and we’d even argue that based on city selection those using this index for a comparison are using it to keep the average housing prices higher.  regardless of our opinion on the index not being a fully representative representation of the US housing market, it will allow investors to access what MacroShares itself calls "this important, but illiquid, asset class."

When these are launched, these paired securities will have a 10-year term and will feature a 2x (200%) leverage factor.  MacroMarkets LLC plans to launch the new securities on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbols:

• UMM – MacroShares Major Metro Housing Up
• DMM – MacroShares Major Metro Housing Down

And who says that ETF’s and ETN’s have ceased being creative?

Jon C. Ogg
June 11, 2008