Middle East ETF

Comparison of a few Middle East ETF's for opportunity investing:

MES - Market vector gulf states - general multi country in middle east
GULF - focusing on dividend stocks in middle east

Main countries both focus on: Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, (19% Egypt in GULF)

GULF looks more diversified among more countries than MES but focuses bit more on financials/telecom than MES (both ~70%)

Probably consider MES more. Currently down ~10% from peak due to middle east revolution issues right now.


http://seekingalpha.com/article/200114-comparing-middle-east-etfs-gulf-vs-mes

Analysis Of Short Term Treasury ETF to Park CASH

List of good ETF's to park money for short term (~1 month) while waiting for opportunities.

Criteria: Some yield (above the low interest rates available from money markets), low volatility, high liquid, low bid/ask spread.

Barclays iShares US Treasury Bond ETFs
iShares Lehman Short Treasury Bond Fund (SHV)
iShares Lehman 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund (SHY)
iShares Lehman 3-7 Year Treasury Bond Fund (IEI)
iShares Lehman 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Fund (IEF)
iShares Lehman 10-20 Year Treasury Bond Fund (TLH)
iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (TLT)

State Street SPDR US Treasury Bond ETFs
SPDR Lehman 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL)
SPDR Lehman Intermediate Term Treasury ETF (ITE)
SPDR Lehman Long Term Treasury ETF (TLO)

Vanguard Government Bond Index ETFs
Vanguard Short-Term Government Bond Index Fund (VGSH)
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Government Bond Index Fund (VGIT)
Vanguard Long-Term Government Bond Index Fund (VGLT)

Inflation Protected Bond [TIPS] ETFs
iShares Lehman TIPS Bond Fund (TIP)
SPDR Barclays TIPS ETF (IPE)

Analysis TBD

Stocks to Consider Buying

Some stocks to buy?

NVDA
F - looks like almost hitting bottom soon?
CRM - long term growth?
HPQ

QCOM/ARMH if prices drop some more

Shorting Gold?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-will-gold-hit-a-new-high-2011-02-24

Hm...a short term shorting of GLD may be in order? Put options for Mar doesn't look that pricey...may be worth a shot!

Preferred ETFs

iShares currently offers the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index Fund (NYSE:PFF), which has more than $6 billion in assets. PowerShares offers two preferred stock ETFs (NYSE:PGF) and (NYSE:PGX) with aggregate assets of about $3 billion, while State Street’s PSK has about $100 million [see ETF Roundup: One Trillion And Counting].

Fusion IQ Technical Video

Interesting short vid to watch on where market may go...

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/01/fusion-iq-technical-overview/