wow guys... do you believe in voo-doo and witch craft too?
Nazzdak - first to market is key meaning... Look at Q's, Spiders, etc. the first guys to get into index-based ETFs (non-leveraged) made a killing, many followed but no one can even come close.
Look at ProShares with 2x (Ultras), first to market 2xetfs, they make a killing, (while techniclly Rydex did offer 2xetfs first, ProShares got it right), no one can come close to the 2x ETF market that Pro has.
3xetfs launch... shortly thereafter ProShares filed for 3xetfs as well - rumor (not credible, etc.) is that Pro isn't going to bother launching thier 3x products because #1, they don't want to pirate their 2x business and #2, the market space isn't big enough for the added etfs. (again, this is rumor, unconfirmed, but seems to be holding up)
Its not about how many different ways to be first to market trying to twist up the S&P - its even more basic, first 1x (non-leveraged) wins, and so on. As for the "expensive" stock ETF, if there is an index of "expensive stocks" then its possible.
tradersboredom - not really sure what you are talking about, many ETFs are thinly traded, considered illiquid, but are still very tradable (untradable to me means not available to trade) and they are certanly investable.
Stosh - Don't know anything about DCR, was it an ETF or an ETN? I can't find any info on it so I can't even comment - ETFs all have an underlying basket of stocks that back up the secondary market share price - unless that basket goes to $0 you should not ever see the ETF share price go to $0 - its just not possible with the way they work, unless they were very poorly managed, or as I stated above, an ETN.
boredom - i don't think you understand ETFs at all. not all ETFs are leveraged, not all ETFs use derivitives - its just not true. Read the prospectus of the ETF you are interested in and see if the fund manager is allowed to use derivitives or leverage - I'd bet that you'll find over 90% of ETFs on the market are not allowed to go above 100% exposure (non-leveraged) so at that point derivatives are expensive and not needed.
Daal - to answer more of your question. An ETF would liquidate just as a mutual fund would liquidate. The fund manager would announce that as of X date the ETF would no longer be available for new/additional purchases (meaning the market makers would purchase back all shares), around the same time they would most probably also put out disclosure language stating that the ETF may no longer seek its target investment objective. Once secondary market shareholders have the opportunity to redeem/sell, the market makers would turn in the secondary market shares to the fund manager for the basket of stocks (or cash) that represent the underlying securities. At this time, if you did not sell prior, your shares would be liquidated by your broker and cash value for the share would be put in your account.
I can't stress this enough - ETFs hold an underlying basket of securities which have value, unless the underlying securities go to $0 the ETF will not lose value, your money will not be taken, there is no black magic or whatever - its very straightforward.
ETN's are a different story.