Tuesday’s news was not encouraging. Home value declines will continue to make families and home owners second guess their net worth. In a recession, this prompts only one reaction: saving.

The macro economic accounting identity states savings equals investment. This static steady theory is becoming a large force against fiscal stimulus, now awaiting Senate Approval.

The month of February ended with a thud - the fourth consecutive monthly decline for equity indices. Uncertainties in the market abound and volatility levels are high. Amid these conditions, investors have found shelter in areas few and far between. With the United States entrenched in a rate cutting cycle, even money market funds are becoming a less attractive option. Where should investors look for an alternative with upside potential? Foreign currencies are an asset class on the rise in US Dollar terms over the last seven plus years, and they have made measurable moves to the upside since the first of this year.

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Over the last several months, deteriorating economic conditions have lured investors away from riskier assets and into safe havens such as treasuries and money markets. Since the summer of 2007, spreads for high-yield bonds over treasuries have measurably widened, reaching 7.5 percentage points last week - the largest since 2001. With effective yields nearing 10%, the question arising is whether we are near a tipping point to jump into these high yielding instruments or will fears over future economic uncertainties prove too high for investors to make a risk commitment of this magnitude?

The first exchange-traded fund with exposure to small-cap emerging market stocks is set to begin trading today. I thought it would be wise to explore the potential benefits of exposure to this unique combination of market capitalization and geographical region.

After a quick glance into the fund, I am set to make an allocation to the WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Fund (DGS).

Two predominant market themes of late have been the technology sector's strength and the U.S. dollar's weakness. While it's likely the savvy investor would be making both of these plays, how can you invest in both bullish themes using a single ETF?