ETF Expert

1. Warren did it… should you? Mr. Buffett placed roughly $2.0 billion down on the debt of a Texas utility firm that is going private.

Warren expressed an interest in utilities on Monday, which one may gain exposure to through the iShares S&P Global Utilities (JXI) Yet Carl Delfield sees another opportunity; that is, investors may wish to consider bonds with B1/B2 "junk" ratings through the SPDR Lehman High Yield Bond ETF (JNK).

In brief, these are higher risk investments with potentially higher rewards. The average yield is 8.88%. And in a world where a 10-year Treasury note fetches less than 4%, the spread may be worthwhile to some aggressive folks. Here’s an alternative high yield selection that is not associated with high-yielding corporates.

2. One of the popular reasons given to continue betting against the U.S. "buck" has been the fact that the U.S. is cutting interest rates. Worse yet, the rest of the world has merely paused.

But that may be changing. Expectations for cuts by the European Central Bank and possibly the Bank of England have increased dramatically. And this is on top of Canada’s recent cut.

So for all the fear-mongering about the demise of the dollar, it seems that "bucky" may hold its ground for a period of time. In the near-term, the U.S. dollar may firm… and even gain some ground if the U.S. economy finds strength in 2008.

If you think that the dollar has "bottomed," you might want the PowerShares DB US Dollar Bullish Fund (UUP). Meanwhile, defensive currency investors should stick to the Currency Shares Swiss Franc (FXF).