I'm assuming that you are referring to exchange traded funds. They ended up with this weird acronym because the first one that that was allowed tracked the S&P (500) Depository Receipts Index (SPDR pronounced spider) and that became the vernacular for these kinds of funds. Although State Street, an investment advisory firm has started using the word spyder as a branding mechanism for their particular family of these kind of funds. Least any of you think that my understanding of all this is surprising or whatever, I tend to have a very good level of knowledge about things that have hurt me.... cancer being one, and exchange traded funds another. For those that care, we might add to the list, my wealth of knowledge (or at least opinions) about wars and why we get into them, what keeps helicopters airplanes flying (surviving several crashes) and ex-wives.... Most of these topics I have developed a pretty good understanding of, except perhaps that last one.

Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.