ETF Onslaught Only Beginning

Earlier this summer, Jim Cramer wrote that he thought the market was saturated with exchange-traded funds. If you're under the same impression, let me warn you: you ain't seen nothing yet.

There are only about 250 ETFs on the market. According to the Investment Company Institute, there are more than 8,600 mutual funds (not to mention over 6,000 unit investment trusts).

Given those figures, does new ETF issuance really sound so excessive?

The creation of new ETFs seems to be picking up steam, and the reason is that they are the future of this industry. And they're particularly problematic for traditional, open-ended mutual funds. ...