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ETF Spotlight Newsletter
A sampling of research & data on ETFs from AltaVista Research
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No. of ETFs
538

Total Mkt Cap ($bns)

$563.9

Avg. daily value traded ($bns)

$45.7
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August 16, 2010
Greetings!

Below please find the ETF Spotlight newsletter for the week of August 16, containing highlights of the research and data on www.etfresearchcenter.com as well as a recap of the past week's action in the ETF market. 

The focus of this week's edition is country ETFs. Feel free to share it with others who may be interested. 
 
In this week's issue

technicianCountry ETFs
  • Chart of the week: P/BV on select country ETFs
  • Fund Focus: iShares MSCI Germany (EWG)
  • Revisions, asset flows & short interest
  • Book value per share, growth rates and P/BV multiples for major ETFs
  • Market monitor - movers & categories
To download the full newsletter click here.
 
Chart of the week
P/BV multiples on select country ETFs
P/BV on select country ETFs
Chart081610

Country funds are some of the most popular ETFs, since they allow investors to play differing economic conditions. Certainly, stocks in so-called "PIGS" countries have been hammered recently as their economies hit the wall.

However we caution that domicile in less important than it once was: many of the multinationals that dominate country indices derive the majority of their sales from outside their home country.

More relevant in determining investment merit than the question, "What are economic conditions in country X?" are the firms' profitability and their stocks' valuation measures. This week's chart takes a look at the price-to-book value multiple of major country ETFs, with our ALTAR Score(TM) implying that low P/BV multiples don't necessarily indicate a bargain.

To download the full newsletter, click here.
 
Fund Focus
iShares MSCI Germany (EWG)bbgate

Estimates for German firms have been increasing over the past six months as the country's export-led economy insulates German firms from the effects of austerity measures to some degree. In any case, stocks in EWG are trading at reasonable valuation multiples but have only an average ALTAR Score given their relatively low levels of profitability.  So while German firms appear to have momentum at present, we think investors can do even better long term by including some of the more "deep value" European markets, such as with the iShares S&P Europe 350 (IEV).

To download the full newsletter, click here.
 
As always your questions & feedback are most welcome.
 
Sincerely,
 
Michael Krause
AltaVista Research