04/30/2011

A retirement portfolio that includes both foreign and domestic investments can provide for more diversification, with more opportunities for growth. This article will focus on country specific ETFs, and how they have been performing.

International equity ETFs are available in several types. These include specific developed countries, specific emerging countries, specific frontier countries, as well as ETFs that hold equities from multiple countries and in several sectors and industries. The ETF provider iShares®, for several years, has been one of the leaders in Country ETFs, however there are several other ETF providers that have been offering an interesting line up of investments. Another interesting provider is Van Eck, with their Russia (RSX) ETF.

We follow twenty three Country ETFs, and their performance over the past year is in the following table: (You can view this table here also- Global Stocks Trend). I have added the Total US Stock Market ETF (VTI) for comparison (in bold italics), - interesting that it ranks right about in the middle in terms of Trend Score.

As the Dollar sells off and the Euro rallies this week, Germany (EWG), up over 5%, ranks at the top of the list in Trend Score. You can see from the list that some of the countries that are performing well, year over year, are resource rich. Australia, South Africa, Canada and Russia, are major producers of minerals and mining, and energy.

The countries that are outperforming the US Stock Market are probably doing better for several reasons. One reason is that the US is exporting inflation. Another is higher economic growth rates in those countries.

Global Stocks Trend, ranked by 'Trend Score' - as of Friday April 29

The trend score is defined as the average of 1, 4, 13, 26 and 52 week total returns (including dividend reinvested).

Another benefit of these Country ETFs is currency diversification. Owning these ETFs is like owning a basket of currencies from outside the US.

These ETFs are on my retirement account watch list this year.

Disclosure: MyPlanIQ does not have any business relationship with the company or companies mentioned in this article. It does not set up their retirement plans. The performance data of portfolios mentioned above are obtained through historical simulation and are hypothetical.

Symbols: EWY, EWA, EWG, EZA, EWC, EWT, EWL, RSX, EWK, EWS, EWO, SPY, EWU, EWM, EWW, EWQ, EWH, EWN, EWZ, FXI, EWI, EWP, INP, EWJ

comments(0) 

04/29/2011

A retirement portfolio that includes both foreign and domestic investments can provide for more diversification, with more opportunities for growth. This article will focus on country specific ETFs, and how they have been performing.

International equity ETFs are available in several types. These include specific developed countries, specific emerging countries, specific frontier countries, as well as ETFs that hold equities from multiple countries and in several sectors and industries. The ETF provider iShares®, for several years, has been one of the leaders in Country ETFs, however there are several other ETF providers that have been offering an interesting line up of investments. Another interesting provider is Van Eck, with their Russia (RSX) ETF.

We follow twenty three Country ETFs, and their performance over the past year is in the following table: (You can view this table here also- Global Stocks Trend). I have added the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) for comparison (in bold italics), - interesting that it ranks right about in the middle in terms of performance over the past year.

as of 4/21

The trend score is defined as the average of 1, 4, 13, 26 and 52 week total returns (including dividend reinvested).

South Korea (EWY) at the top of the list, has been trending about double the (SPY).You can see from the list that some of top performing countries are resource rich. Australia, South Africa, Canada and Russia, are major producers of minerals and mining, and energy.

Another benefit of these Country ETFs is currency diversification. Owning these ETFs is like owning a basket of currencies from outside the US.

These ETFs are on my retirement account watch list this year.

Disclosure: MyPlanIQ does not have any business relationship with the company or companies mentioned in this article. It does not set up their retirement plans. The performance data of portfolios mentioned above are obtained through historical simulation and are hypothetical.

Exchange Tickers: (NYSE:EWY), (NYSE:EWA), (NYSE:EWG), (NYSE:EZA), (NYSE:EWC), (NYSE:EWT), (NYSE:EWL), (NYSE:RSX), (NYSE:EWK), (NYSE:EWS), (NYSE:EWO), (NYSE:SPY) ,(NYSE:EWU), (NYSE:EWM), (NYSE:EWW), (NYSE:EWQ), (NYSE:EWH), (NYSE:EWN), (NYSE:EWZ), (NYSE:FXI), (NYSE:EWI), (NYSE:EWP), (NYSE:INP), (NYSE:EWJ)

Symbols: EWY, EWA, EWG, EZA, EWC, EWT, EWL, RSX, EWK, EWS, EWO, SPY, EWU, EWM, EWW, EWQ, EWH, EWN, EWZ, FXI, EWI, EWP, INP, EWJ

comments(0) 

01/12/2011

Last week, indices around the globe showed declining trend scores with only a few countries showing a positive trend increase.

South Korea (EWY) remained at the top spot, albeit seeing its trend score lowered last week. The fundamentals of the South Korean economy continue to look strong. The trend was lowered mainly due to investor appetite for profit-taking.

Malaysia (EWM) jumped from sixth place to claim the second spot last week. Unlike most of its high growth ASEAN counterparts, the Malaysian equity market did not go up as much in 2010. The country’s initiatives to reform its banking sector and massive spending plan on infrastructure projects bodes well for a positive economic outlook this year.

Renewed concerns about European sovereign debt continued to drive Spain (EWP), Italy (EWI), and France (EWQ) lower. Uncertainties over potential sovereign defaults will likely to send more turbulence to the markets in the eurozone.

We will see if the volatilities will spill over to outside the eurozone -- this data can regularly be reviewed at the 360 Degree Market View.

click to enlarge images

labels:investment,

Symbols:AGG,BND,CIU,CSJ,DBA,DBC,EEM,EFA,EWA,EWC,EWG,EWH,EWI,EWJ,EWK,EWL,EWM,EWN,EWO,EWP,EWQ,EWS,EWT,EWU,EWW,EWY,EWZ,EZA,FXI,GSG,HYG,ICF,IEF,INP,IWM,IYR,JNK,LQD,MBB,MDY,MUB,PHB,QQQQ,RSX,SHV,SHY,SPY,TLT,USO,VEU,VNQ,VWO,

comments(0) 

01/06/2011

Last week, indices around the globe showed a more positive trend with only a few countries showing a negative trend.

South Korea sees a significant jump as its economy continues to look strong and is a major player in the non-BRIC growth economies. South Africa also continued with strong growth and is aligned with South Korea as a high growth emerging economy outside the BRIC club.

The balance of the other national economies were flat or modestly up as we rounded out the end of the year.

Spain continues to be a concern and it will likely take some time to work through the national debt concerns.

We will see if the upward trend continues early in 2011 -- this data can regularly be reviewed at the 360 Degree Market View.

labels:investment,

Symbols:AGG,BND,CIU,CSJ,DBA,DBC,EEM,EFA,EWA,EWC,EWG,EWH,EWI,EWJ,EWK,EWL,EWM,EWN,EWO,EWP,EWQ,EWS,EWT,EWU,EWW,EWY,EWZ,EZA,FXI,GSG,HYG,ICF,IEF,INP,IWM,IYR,JNK,LQD,MBB,MDY,MUB,PHB,QQQQ,RSX,SHV,SHY,SPY,TLT,USO,VEU,VNQ,VWO,

comments(0) 

12/29/2010

Last week, indices around the globe showed a mixed bag of results – our top funds this year such as South Africa (EZA), Russia (RSX) and South Korea (EWY) continued to do well while Spain (EWP) and China (FXI) posted another lackluster performance.

Among the emerging markets, Taiwan (EWT) reversed its recent up trend and fell 1.45% last week. The selloff was primarily driven by profit taking and concerns over exporters’ profitability from a stronger local currency. At the same time, China’s central bank announced a 25 basis points rate hike over the weekend to gear up for the fight against inflation. FXI ended last week flat, but the Shanghai Composite has tumbled more than 4% this week.

Spain (EWP) dropped 3.5% last week. Markets are still concerned that the debt-riddled Spanish government may be forced to seek a bailout and a new wave of panic would be triggered in the eurozone. There does not seem to be much clarity on this issue ahead.

click to enlarge

labels:investment,

Symbols:AGG,BND,CIU,CSJ,DBA,DBC,EEM,EFA,EWA,EWC,EWG,EWH,EWI,EWJ,EWK,EWL,EWM,EWN,EWO,EWP,EWQ,EWS,EWT,EWU,EWW,EWY,EWZ,EZA,FXI,GSG,HYG,ICF,IEF,INP,IWM,IYR,JNK,LQD,MBB,MDY,MUB,PHB,QQQQ,RSX,SHV,SHY,SPY,TLT,USO,VEU,VNQ,VWO,

comments(0) 

12/22/2010

12/14/2010

12/08/2010

11/30/2010

11/23/2010

11/16/2010

11/10/2010