etf

U.S.-based ProShares (www.proshares.com) offers a range of short-selling products for U.S. stock indexes. It also sells products that take long positions. ProShares offers three types of exchange traded funds (ETFs). All have MERs of 0.95%. 1) ProShares Short ETFs are designed to move in the opposite direction of the underlying index....

Emerging markets continue to have strong longterm outlooks. One of the best ways to profit from their growth with less risk is through low-fee exchange traded funds (ETFs). ISHARES S&P INDIA NIFTY 50 INDEX FUND $22.40 (Nasdaq symbol INDY; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that aims to track the S&P CNX Nifty Index, which represents the 50 largest, most liquid Indian securities. The fund’s top holdings are ITC Ltd. (conglomerate), 8.3%; Reliance Industries Ltd. (conglomerate), 7.8%; Infosys Technologies (software), 7.1%; Housing Development Finance, 6.2%; ICICI Bank, 6.2%; HDFC Bank, 6.1%; Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (conglomerate), 4.1%; Tata Consultancy Services (information technology), 3.8%; and State Bank of India, 3.5%....

ISHARES FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25 INDEX FUND $38.31 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index, which is made up of the 25 largest and most liquid Chinese stocks. All of the stocks in the index trade on the Hong Kong exchange. Some also trade as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York exchange. The fund’s top holdings are China Mobile, 10.3%; China Construction Bank, 8.7%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 7.9%; CNOOC, 6.9%; Bank of China, 6.0%; Ping An Insurance, 4.2%; Petrochina, 4.1%; China Merchants Bank, 4.1%; and China Life Insurance, 4.1%. The fund’s holdings give it the following industry breakdown: Financials, 53.9%; Telecommunications, 18.0%; Oil and Gas, 14.8%; Basic Materials, 10.3%; and Industrials, 2.2%; The ETF has an expense ratio of 0.72%....

In September 2011, gold hit an all-time high of $1,900.30 U.S. an ounce. It now trades at around $1,654.00. Silver reached an all-time high in April 2012, when it reached $49.76 U.S. an ounce. It has since pulled back to today’s price of $30.32. Gold and silver could well regain their highs and move up even further over the longer term, although they will likely remain volatile. Higher prices would arise from investor fears that inflation or global political and economic instability will weaken key currencies, such as the euro or the U.S. dollar. If you want to hold a number of gold or silver stocks, these two exchange traded funds offer top-quality global miners and low fees....

GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $13.56 (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. (10.7%), Australia (6.9%) and Mexico (6.2%), Global X Copper Miners ETF’s MER is 0.65%. Its top 10 holdings are Lundin Mining Corporation at 6.8%; Xstrata plc, 6.1%; Grupo Mexico, 6.1%; Southern Copper Corporation, 5.9%, Antofagasta plc, 5.4%; First Quantum Minerals, 5.2%, Jiangxi Copper Company, 5.2%; Vedanta Resources, 5.2%; HudBay Minerals, 5.2%; and Freeport Copper, 5.1%....

Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment management companies. The group manages over $1.7 trillion U.S. in 170 mutual funds. Vanguard, which went into business in 1975, offers low-fee index mutual funds. Generally speaking, Canadians can’t buy units of mutual funds that are registered in the U.S., because they aren’t registered with provincial securities commissions. For that matter, some Canadian funds aren’t available in all provinces. Canadians can, however, buy Vanguard exchange traded funds (ETFs) that trade on stock exchanges. We don’t recommend all of Vanguard’s ETFs, but here are two we do see as low-fee buys....

MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $19.18 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers; www.vaneck.com) holds shares of Vietnamese companies or foreign firms that get a significant amount of their revenue from Vietnam.

Market Vectors Vietnam ETF was launched on August 11, 2009. Its expense ratio is 0.76%.

The ETF’s top 10 holdings are Vietin Commercial Bank, 8.2%; Vincom Corp. (real estate), 7.9%; JSC Bank, 7.5%; Baoviet Holdings (Finance and insurance), 6.7%; PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemical, 5.4%; Premier Oil plc (a U.K. producer with a 53.1% stake in the huge Chim Sao oil project offshore southern Vietnam), 4.2%; Charoen Pokphand Foods (a Thailand-based food conglomerate), 4.1%; Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (an India-based oil and gas company), 4.0%; Gamuda Bhd (a Malaysia-based construction group); and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (real estate development), 3.8%.

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GUGGENHEIM CHINA SMALL CAP ETF $21.70 (New York Exchange symbol HAO; buy or sell through brokers; www.guggenheimfunds.com) aims to track the AlphaShares China Small Cap Index, which is made up of all Chinese stocks that are legal for foreign investors and have market caps between $200 million and $1.5 billion.

The $168.8-million fund’s top holdings are Alibaba. com, 1.7%; Zoomlion Heavy Industry, 1.3%; Longfor Properties, 1.2%; Sino-Ocean Land Holding, 1.2%; Guangdong Investment, 1.6%; Tsingtao Brewery Co., 1.6%; Golden Eagle Retail Group, 1.2%; Shanghai Industrial Holdings, 1.1%; Zhaojin Mining Industry, 1.1%; and Digital China Holdings, 1.1%.

As China’s economy matures, domestic spending should continue to rise. As well, China’s leaders will likely need to increase spending on programs and services to ease the growing gap between the rich and poor. Guggenheim China Small Cap ETF is well positioned to benefit from both of these trends.

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SPDR S&P CHINA ETF $68.38 (New York Exchange symbol GXC; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) is an exchange traded fund that aims to track the S&P China BMI Index. This index is made up of all the publicly traded Chinese stocks that are available to foreign investors. Right now, SPDR S&P China ETF holds 184 stocks.

The $879.6-million fund’s top holdings are China Mobile, 7.7%; China Construction Bank, 7.5%; Baidu, 5.4%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 5.1%; CNOOC, 4.6%; PetroChina, 4.2%; Tencent Holdings, 3.9%; Bank of China, 3.5%; China Life Insurance, 2.7%; and China Petroleum & Chemical, 2.6%.

The fund’s breakdown by industry is as follows: Financials, 31.0%; Oil and Gas, 15.9%; Information Technology, 13.8%; Industrials, 10.2%; Telecommunication Services, 10.1%; Consumer Discretionary, 5.5%; Consumer Staples, 5.0%; Basic Materials, 4.4%; Utilities, 2.3%; and Health Care, 1.6%.

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Chinese stocks are up over 30% since September 2011. That’s largely because investors believe that a global recovery will raise China’s exports and improve its domestic economy. As well, the country’s inflation rate is easing. That gives it more options to boost growth, including cutting interest rates. Here are two Chinese exchange traded funds (ETFs) that we cover in Canadian Wealth Advisor newsletter. One holds publicly traded Chinese stocks available to foreign investors, and the other holds small cap Chinese stocks....