Powershares has put together a new ETF to track the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Build America Bond Index. The BAB ETF will consist of securities that are eligible to partcipate in the Build America Bond Program.

The Build America Bond Program was created under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in order to decrease borrowing costs of local and state governments.  BABs are taxable municipal bonds that are actually subsidized by the U.S. Treasury.

There are two types of BABs - direct payment and tax credit bonds. Direct Payment BABs will pay the issuer 35% of the interest payments made to investors. Tax credit BABs will pass the 35% along as a tax credit. BABs were launched in April of 2009 and have been steadily increasing in popularaity with each passing day.

Therefore, due to their newfound popularity, it was only a matter of time before someone created new bond ETFs to track their performance.  Or in the case of the new funds, tracking the BAB index.

Here are some highlights regarding the new ETF...

1. It will invest at least 80% of its total assets in taxable municpal securities elegible for the BAB program
2. It will disclose its full portfolio holdings on a daily basis
3. The securities in the fund must have an investment-grade rating
4. The securities must have at least one year to maturity
5. Securities must have a fixed coupon schedule
6. Securities must have a minimum amount outstanding of $1 million
7. Securities in the ETF must have a direct pay federal subsidy

It's not only nice to see more bond ETFs, but more ETF innovations as well. And if your looking for more bond ETF information, you've come to the right place...

What You Need to Ask About Bond ETFs

14 Types of Bond ETFs

4 Ways to Invest with International Bond ETFs

A List of Bond ETFs

As I told you in my last post about the Oklahoma State ETF (OOK), the Texas State ETF launch was not far behind. Only a few days in fact. Today, OOK Advisors launched TXF on the NYSE Arca and as of right now it's trading around $36.

The new Texas ETF invests in securities that represent a benchmark index of large publicly traded companies that have their headquarters in Texas. As for the actual holdings in the new fund, they can be found on the TXF website as well as some other pertinent information.

So now that we have Texas and Oklahoma, how long until I can get a Pennsylvania ETF for my portfolio?

No, it's not a college football ETF, it's actually a state ETF...

OOK - The Oklahoma ETF tracks the SPADE Oklahoma Index, which consists of the major companies in that state.

The new fund launched yesterday and as I told you in an earlier blog post, a Texas state ETF (TXF) ain't far behind. So if this piques your interest or your portfolio, you might want to watch OOK and see how it reacts to different market conditions.

We love commodity ETFs around these parts, so we're excited to hear that ALPS has two new ones coming out...

• CRBA - the Jefferies TR/J CRB Global Agriculture Equity Index Fund
• CRBI - the Jefferies TR/J CRB Global Industrial Metals Equity Index Fund

CRBA will trade on the ARCA and track the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Agriculture Equity Index. Stocks in the ETF and indexwill be involved in production and distribution of agricultural commodities and services.

CRBI will also trade on the ARCA and track the the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Industrial Metals Equity Index. Stocks in this ETF and its underlying index, will be involved in the metal mining industry. Metals like aluminum and steel.

When it comes to commodity ETFs, we only have three words...keep 'em comin'.