XShares Sacrifices a Low-Volume Laggard By Don Dion About this article: In light of yesterday's article on the importance of liquidity, I felt it relevant to discuss the recent dissolution of the XShares-based AirShares EU Carbon Allowances Fund. Earlier today XShares announced liquidation of this fund, citing small size, low market interaction and negligible potential growth as reasons for termination. With an inception date in late December 2008, ASO was originally designed to expose investors to European Union Allowances futures contracts (EUAs are entitlements to emit fixed amounts of carbon dioxide). ASO recently had a total expense ratio of 0.8625% and, as of today, an average trading volume of only 1,600 shares. Overall, the untimely demise of ASO serves as an illuminating example of how poor liquidity can drastically reduce a fund's chances of survival. As I wrote yesterday, liquidity accurately represents investor interest in a given exchange-traded product; as such, ASO's tragically low trading volume was... Or, call us at 1-866-321-TSCM (8726) Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. ET. Outside the U.S. and in Canada, call 1-212-321-5200. More Stories From RealMoney Durable Goods Up Move Down the Tech Food Chain Jobless Claims Still High Bulls' Tenacity Is the Big Question Mark Should You Buy It? Pharmaceutical Product Development Bad News Trumps All Support for Banks Holds, For Now Bummer, Yields Are on the Rise Money on the Line Makes a Big Difference Structured Products: Unsafe at Any Price MORE STORIES FROM REALMONEY

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