Overseas Market ETF

Corey said: "Hey all, I have been looking into diversifying my portfolio a bit, and while I know most of you are traders and not investors, I was hoping you might be able to give me some opinions (as you all seem to be smart guys, and opinions are maybe the last free thing on this earth). I figure that just as you wouldn't bet it all on one stock, or one industry, you shouldn't bet it all on one country. So I am thinking of using an ETF or two to get diversified. I know I don't want to touch emerging markets -- they are far too unstable and scare the pants off me. The return isn't great enough for the risk. Currently, I am looking at EWU (iShares United Kingdom Index) and EWD (iShares Sweden Index). Both track stable countries with stable governments and stable economic systems. They also both have had great returns over the last three years (something that I am both excited and wary about). Morning Star gives EWD an above average call for a 3 year cycle, but as time goes on, bumps them down to average for a 10 year cycle. With EWU, it is all below average :( Now, I am not going to make my decision entirely based off of Morningstar, but I do consider them to be some pretty smart people. My current issue is that I believe a lot of ETFs have been overhyped in the last two or three years and thus are seeing inflated performance. Anyone have any suggestions of funds to check out, or methods for weeding the good ETFs from the bad? Thanks and happy trading! Corey"

Corey said: "Nobody investing in foreign markets at all? Any feelings on ETFs in general? I know most people here tend to stick to picking their own stocks, but in foreign markets, which don't have the same accounting principles as we do here, I think an ETF would be the safe bet. Eh?"

Mr. Gekko said: "I know there is an "Emerging Markets" ETF... I don't remember what the symbol is though. If I find it I'll post it."

Mr. Gekko said: "Ok. Here's a list of ETF's from CNBC. Seems there are three emerging markets ETF's. One from iShares, one from Vanguard and another from BLDRS (not familiar with the later). They have some key stats for each. Here's the link... [URL="http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/common/P118061.asp"]http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/common/P118061.asp[/URL]"

Mr. Gekko said: "Crap. Just [I]fully[/I] read your first post... you don't want emerging markets... damn... well, maybe the list can help you anyway."

Corey said: "Thanks for the list. Yahoo! has a similar one that I was looking at. The issue with 'comparing' ETFs like this is that the ETFs aren't really comparable in the first place. They smash all the ETFs in a list like this because ETFs are so popular and people just want to glean as much information about them as fast as possible. In the list, it is comparing apples to oranges with a lot of the funds. It would be the same of just having a list of all index funds and saying "here are the returns". It doesn't take into account what market, what the focus is, what industries they are involved with, what the market was doing during that period, et cetera. Unfortunately, the list is doing more a disservice than a service. And unfortunately, it is the 'best' information I can find on most of these ETFs. Yahoo! offers some limited info, and Morningstar seems to rate a couple -- but other than that...nada. Thanks anyway!"

Mr. Gekko said: "Here's another list that has ETFs for international indices. [URL="http://mutualfunds.about.com/od/etfs/l/blintletfs.htm"]http://mutualfunds.about.com/od/etfs/l/blintletfs.htm[/URL]"

marbles said: "[QUOTE=Corey] It would be the same of just having a list of all index funds and saying "here are the returns". It doesn't take into account what market, what the focus is, what industries they are involved with, what the market was doing during that period, et cetera. Unfortunately, the list is doing more a disservice than a service. ![/QUOTE] You can go to [url]www.ishares.com[/url] and for each ETF they list every stock by percentage, market capitalization, industry."

Mr. Gekko said: "[QUOTE=marbles]You can go to [url]www.ishares.com[/url] and for each ETF they list every stock by percentage, market capitalization, industry.[/QUOTE] Probably your best bet Corey. I tried to find something by Googling but, only came up with the two lists I mentioned."

duck_oil said: "I recently picked up some FXI, which is 25 biggies from China for my RRSP account. It's one of those things I don't want to obsess over, especially with all that could happen to affect the price. I hope to let it run its course for 40 years and forget about it until then."

Corey said: "I have heard a lot of good things about FXI. Though, I still consider China dangerous territory -- I would rather stick to a more democratic, capitalistic country. Something a little more...developed. Lots of growth prospects in China though."