etf

ISHARES AUSTRALIA INDEX FUND $24.58 (New York symbol EWA; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that holds the 71 largest Australian stocks. Its MER is 0.52%. The fund’s top holdings include BHP Billiton, 12.1%; Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 10.1%; Westpac Banking Corp., 8.6%; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, 7.5%; National Australia Bank, 6.5%; Woolworths, 4.0%; Wesfarmers, 3.8%; Rio Tinto, 2.7%; CSL Ltd., 2.6%; and Westfield Group, 2.5%. Australia benefits from its stable banking and political systems. It is also rich in natural resources, and it’s close to key Asian markets with vast potential, including India and China....

POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $69.11 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares. com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds the stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index. That index is made up of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on market cap.

The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Amazon.com, Oracle Corp., Comcast Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc.

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $134.68 (New York symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The fund’s top holdings are IBM, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp., 3M, Wal-Mart Stores, McDonald’s Corp., Procter & Gamble, Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies and Boeing. The fund’s expenses are about 0.18% of its assets.

SPDR Dow Jones ETF is a buy.

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SPDR S&P 500 ETF $145.09 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. stocks that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple Inc., ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Wells Fargo & Co., Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Chevron, General Electric, Pfizer Inc., Coca-Cola Co., Google and AT&T.

The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets.

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ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $20.77 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of its assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 4.6%.

The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 7.1%; National Bank, 5.8%; TD Bank, 5.6%; Bank of Montreal, 5.3%; Bonterra Energy, 4.8%; Royal Bank, 4.6%; Telus Corp., 4.6%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.3%; BCE Inc., 4.1%; and AG Growth International, 4.0%.

The fund holds 54.4% of its assets in financial stocks. Utilities are next, at 21.2%. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects. However, if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector.

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Vanguard Canadian Short-Term Bond Index ETF, $24.96, symbol VSB on New York (Shares outstanding: 1.7 million; Market cap: $42.4 million; www.vanguard.com), mirrors the performance of the Barclays Global Aggregate Canadian Government/Credit 1-5 Year Float Adjusted Bond Index. This index consists of a wide range of investment-grade federal, provincial, municipal and corporate bonds with between one- and five-year terms to maturity. The fund holds 184 bonds with an average term to maturity of 3.0 years. The bonds in the index are 72.9% government and 27.1% corporate. The fund’s MER is 0.15%. The Vanguard Canadian Short-Term Bond Index ETF yields 2.8%. However, this high yield is due to the fact that some of the fund’s bonds pay above-market interest rates. But as a result they trade above their face value. When these bonds mature, holders will only get the bonds’ face value, which means the portfolio will incur predictable capital losses. These losses will offset some of the appeal of the above-market yields....

Most stock markets have risen lately. But as always, they remain subject to unexpected downturns. Even so, the long-term outlook is for higher stock prices. One way to profit from rising markets is to add exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track major stock indexes to your portfolio. ETF’s trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You must pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell ETFs, but their low management fees still give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....

BMO Junior Gold Index ETF, $16.65, symbol ZJG on Toronto York (Units outstanding: 6.7 million; Market cap: $111.6 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), aims to mirror the performance of the Dow Jones North America Select Junior Gold Index. This index is made up of 33 junior gold stocks from Canada (76.1% of assets) and the U.S. (23.9%). The fund’s MER is 0.55%. BMO Junior Gold Index ETF began trading on January 19, 2010. The fund’s top 10 holdings are Allied Nevada Gold Corp. at 12.1%; Coeur d’Alene Mines, 9.8%; Alamos Gold, 8.5%; AuRico Gold, 7.5%; B2Gold Corp., 5.5%; NovaGold Resources, 4.8%; McEwen Mining, 4.2%; Argonaut Gold, 3.6%; Banro Corp., 3.6%; and Dundee Precious Metals, 3.5%....

GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $11.31 (New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, which includes between 20 and 40 international companies that mine, refine or explore for copper. Germany-based Structured Solutions AG created this index.

Canadian companies make up 38.1% of the fund’s holdings. It also includes companies based in the U.S. (11.2%), Australia (8.8%) and Mexico (5.7%), Global X Copper Miners ETF’s MER is 0.65%.

Its top 10 holdings are Southern Copper Corporation at 5.9%, Lundin Mining, 5.8%; KGHM Polska Miedz, 5.7%, Antofagasta plc, 5.6%; Grupo Mexico, 5.6%; Freeport Copper, 5.5%; Jiangxi Copper Company, 5.2%; First Quantum Minerals, 5.2%; Xstrata, 4.8%; and Capstone Mining, 4.7%.

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GLOBAL X SILVER MINERS ETF $21.80 (New York symbol SIL; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Silver Miners Index.

This index includes between 20 and 40 international companies that mine, refine or explore for silver. Germany-based Structured Solutions AG developed
this index.

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