Exchange traded funds, whether you love them or hate them, are here to stay. And they will increasingly serve as important benchmarks for individual issues. Single stocks really only make sense in relation to a broader basket of issuers.

So it's not surprising that we should see more analytical tools crop up that relate to ETFs. Buyside Research of Connecticut, for example, has developed a patented concept that would analyze single issues in the context of an ETF. If an analyst wanted data on a single stock, he could quickly call up comps with an ETF. The concept sounds interesting especially if you can pick and choose the ETF to use a benchmark, whether a broad index like the S&P 500 or a narrow industry-focused index or something wacky all together.

Buyside Capital, as reported by Institutional Investor, has secured two patents that cover this system. The firm is "ready to make a deal with an ETF provider like Black Rock, Vanguard or SSgA. The partnering client would ideally supply some of the data, which would include two databaseses: One for the ETF stock holdings, and the second would be a COMPUSTAT type database with fundamental data for every stock in the chosen ETF or other benchmark fund. From this the buyside calculates the weighted average for the ETF, plus or minus the patented adjustments."

Any other interesting ETF-oriented products out there?

For more:
- here's the article  

Related articles:
Gold ETFs scale new heights  
ETF settlement fails--what's the big deal?