ETF Expert

It’s only 2 days… a mere 2 trading sessions in 2010. Still, consider all the patterns that the world famous Stock Trader’s Almanac looks at:

1. Thanksgiving. Be invested the day before and the day after.  Gains occur roughly 84% of the time.

2. Christmas. The last 5 trading days of December and the first two of January mark a 7-day trading period known as the “Santa Rally.” Gains occur approximately 75% of the time.

3. January Barometer. If the S&P 500 is up or down in January… so goes the entire year. Over the last 60 years, it has been accurate 9 out of 10 times!

So forgive me if I seem hung up on BRIC country performance on 1/4 and 1/5. Here’s how each nation fared:

If there’s a surprise, it would have to be Russia (RSX). Here’s a country that was harder hit by the global recession than just about any sovereignty. And GDP forecasts for Russia are significantly lower than for any other BRIC emerger.

Of course, Russia (RSX) is not about negligible GDP growth, rising unemployment, budget imbalances or high inflation. Russia’s about energy… and energy stocks have been at the top of the January leader-board.

For those that think China may be overvalued, well… you may be right. Then again, the world wants a piece of the mainland. What’s more, most of the key data points (e.g., consumer spending, exports, industrial production, low inflation, currency-tied-to-the-dollar, etc.) all favor an allocation to Chinese stocks.

I’m not saying that an investment in China is without risk. I am saying, it’s still “the” BRIC country on the Wall.

If you’d like to learn more about ETF investing… then tune into “In the Money With Gary Gordon.” You can listen to the show “LIVE”, via podcast or on your iPod. If you’d like to subscribe to ETF Risk Alert, click here.

Disclosure Statement: ETF Expert is a web log (”blog”) that makes the world of ETFs easier to understand. Gary Gordon, MS, CFP is the president of Pacific Park Financial, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser with the SEC. The company and/or its clients may hold positions in the ETFs, mutual funds and/or index funds mentioned above. The company does not receive compensation from any of the fund providers covered in this feature. Moreover, the commentary does not constitute individualized investment advice. The opinions offered herein are not personalized recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities. Investors who are interested in money management services may visit the Pacific Park Financial, Inc. web site.

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