Top International ETFs for January - Scott's Investments

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Top International ETFs for January 0 comments

Jan 4, 2011 10:49 PM | about stocks: ECH, EEM, EFA, EPU, EWP, EWT, EZA, IDX, PGJ, THD, TUR

Each month I update a momentum based ranking system of individual country ETFs. Historical studies have shown that momentum based strategies have performed well over time; thus, each month I put a variety of these strategies to the test on Scott's Investments. Below is a table ranking a diverse list of individual country ETFs based on the average of their 3, 6, and 12 month returns. Each column represents returns for various timeframes and the percent each ETF is above (or below) the 200 day moving averages as of December's close. This list is tracked monthly on the right hand side of my blog Scott's Investments. Earlier this summer I made some additional additions so please take a moment to review the new ETFs. Starting this month PGJ and PJO were removed due to redundancy with other, higher volume ETFs on the list.

To see last months list click here. Last month's top 5 were EPU (Peru), THD (Thailand), ECH (Chile), TUR (Turkey) and IDX (Indonesia). , Last month the top 5 returned 1.07% while benchmarks EFA and EEM returned 5.22% and 3.80%.

The top 5 based on the average of the 3-6-12 month returns for this month are below. This month's top five based on momentum are EPU, THD, EZA (South Africa), ECH, and EWT (Taiwan), so there are two new additions with EZA and EWT replacing ECH and IDX. This month there was only one ETF on the entire list below the 200 day moving average, EWP (Spain).

One potential strategy investors could use would be to purchase the top ETFs based on the sum of their returns over 3, 6, and 12 months. Or, one could purchase ETFs based solely on 6 month returns (a strategy featured on ETF Screen). An additional twist would be to only purchase the top performing ETFs if they are also above the 200 day moving average or to use more in-depth and active trading strategies like the one I detailed here and here. Many of the strategies detailed here were inspired by Mebane Faber's The Ivy Portfolio: How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets

The data source for the information below is Finviz, which has some of the best free financial data on the web (as well as a new elite service).

No position disclosures

Ticker	Company	Int'l Portfolios	Perform-ance (Quarter)	Half Year	Year	Average Return	200-Day SMA
EPU	iShares MSCI All Peru Capped Index	Here	16.55%	54.10%	57.18%	42.61%	30.03%
THD	iShares MSCI Thailand Invest Mkt Index	Here	3.76%	39.70%	53.36%	32.27%	20.15%
EZA	iShares MSCI South Africa Index	Here	12.32%	43.01%	36.35%	30.56%	22.12%
ECH	iShares MSCI Chile Investable Mkt Idx	Here	6.75%	38.63%	45.28%	30.22%	21.30%
EWT	iShares MSCI Taiwan Index	Here	16.83%	41.10%	22.80%	26.91%	23.21%
EWY	iShares MSCI South Korea Index	Here	12.73%	38.69%	28.82%	26.75%	19.89%
GXG	Global X/InterBolsa FTSE Colombia 20 ETF	Here	-1.98%	26.96%	51.73%	25.57%	12.36%
EWD	iShares MSCI Sweden Index	Here	7.80%	35.78%	32.89%	25.49%	17.06%
EWW	iShares MSCI Mexico Investable Mkt Idx	Here	15.41%	30.80%	27.30%	24.50%	16.40%
RSX	Market Vectors Russia ETF	Here	14.57%	35.44%	22.13%	24.05%	16.47%
EWM	iShares MSCI Malaysia Index	Here	5.58%	26.92%	37.74%	23.41%	15.07%
EWO	iShares MSCI Austria Investable Mkt Idx	Here	11.37%	43.23%	14.63%	23.08%	18.14%
BRF	Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF	Here	7.03%	37.53%	24.47%	23.01%	20.35%
IDX	Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF	Here	0.18%	23.46%	41.81%	21.82%	12.19%
EWA	iShares MSCI Australia Index	Here	8.72%	37.44%	14.23%	20.13%	14.16%
EIS	iShares MSCI Israel Cap Invest Mkt Index	Here	11.27%	34.91%	13.06%	19.75%	14.40%
EWC	iShares MSCI Canada Index	Here	10.60%	27.31%	19.00%	18.97%	12.73%
EWH	iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index	Here	4.24%	28.36%	24.15%	18.92%	13.42%
EWS	iShares MSCI Singapore Index	Here	5.64%	23.99%	23.33%	17.65%	13.56%
EWL	iShares MSCI Switzerland Index	Here	9.62%	25.27%	12.67%	15.85%	12.56%
HAO	Guggenheim China Small Cap	Here	0.23%	27.32%	15.88%	14.48%	9.13%
EWU	iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index	Here	5.53%	28.48%	8.29%	14.10%	10.42%
EWJ	iShares MSCI Japan Index	Here	10.87%	18.46%	12.82%	14.05%	9.82%
EWG	iShares MSCI Germany Index	Here	7.79%	26.80%	6.68%	13.76%	11.23%
TUR	iShares MSCI Turkey Invest Mkt Index	Here	-4.77%	22.16%	23.46%	13.62%	5.32%
EWZ	iShares MSCI Brazil Index	Here	2.26%	25.08%	7.07%	11.47%	11.51%
PIN	PowerShares India	Here	-1.85%	15.70%	16.29%	10.05%	9.80%
EWN	iShares MSCI Netherlands Invstbl Mkt Idx	Here	3.28%	21.70%	3.38%	9.45%	8.00%
EWK	iShares MSCI Belgium Investable Mkt Idx	Here	-1.20%	20.13%	3.63%	7.52%	5.16%
GXC	SPDR S&P China	Here	-0.46%	14.75%	7.55%	7.28%	4.58%
EWQ	iShares MSCI France Index	Here	2.00%	24.11%	-4.72%	7.13%	6.23%
FXI	iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund	Here	0.37%	10.86%	3.53%	4.92%	3.37%
EWI	iShares MSCI Italy Index	Here	-2.73%	16.09%	-15.52%	-0.72%	1.12%
EWP	iShares MSCI Spain Index	Here	-7.36%	13.54%	-21.19%	-5.00%	-2.20%

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Stocks: ECH, EEM, EFA, EPU, EWP, EWT, EZA, IDX, PGJ, THD, TUR

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