Fifteen new names join ETF Deathwatch and 14 escape as 2013 gets under way. Six are exiting due to increased investor interest, and eight are leaving because they have been closed and delisted. ETF Deathwatch now consists of 375 names (277 ETFs and 98 ETNs) from the 1,445 listed for trading. Of the 102 ETP closures in 2012, 78 were on ETF Deathwatch when their closures were announced.

You may have seen articles trying to persuade you that low-volume ETFs are no reason for concern. After all, the creation/redemption mechanism provides for much more liquidity than the volume would imply. That is true to a point, but if an ETF is only trading 1,000 shares a day, it will take at least 50 days of trading to generate a 50,000-share block for an in-kind exchange.

Today, the iPath Short Enhanced MSCI EAFE ETN (MFSA) is quoted with a bid

by Stephen D. Simpson

Due to better governance practices and a commodity boom, Brazil's economy has enjoyed incredible growth over the past 20 years. Brazil is now the largest economy in Latin America and the sixth or seventh largest economy depending upon the metric used. On the other hand, while Brazil's GDP per capita has improved, it still ranks at a relatively low 64th in the world - meaning that it is a large economy, but not an especially wealthy one yet (at least not uniformly so). While Brazil has made a concerted effort to build up its manufacturing sector (and reduce the risk of being trapped as a commodity-driven economy), minerals, energy and agriculture are still very significant to the Brazilian economy, as well as the larger global economy.

Mining

Mining is still a significant industry within Brazil, as it accounts for nearly 4% of GDP and about

Brazil, one of the pillars of emerging market growth, has been an attractive locale for investors to diversify their international exposure. While investors have focused on the $8.7 billion iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (EWZ), there are also other Brazil exchange traded funds to consider.

The iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund follows the MSCI Brazil Index, a market-cap weighted index that tracks Brazilian stocks. Because of its weighting methodology, the fund leans toward the state-run oil company Petrobras and mining firm Vale, which account for about a third of the ETF's holdings. The financials sector accounts for the largest allocation at 25.0%, followed by energy 20.0% and materials 18.9%. EWZ has a 0.59% expense ratio.

Investors can also take a look at First Trust Brazil AlphaDEX Fund (FBZ) as an alternative. This ETF follows a modified equal-weighting methodology that selects companies based on value and growth factors. As

Brazil is rich in natural resources. With an abundance of land and water, the country's thriving farming and agricultural industry could help grow the many ETFs tracking Brazil.

Brazil is now the world's largest exporter of five major crops and the largest producer of beef, James Dale Davidson wrote for The Christian Science Monitor.

"What no one knew 35 years ago is that Brazil had the capacity to become the breadbasket of the world," Davidson said in the article.

The Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria, or Empresa -- a technical firm associated with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture -- engineered tropical versions of temperate crops, such as soybeans and corn, that would mature faster and be more resistant to pests. Consequently, Brazilian farmers can produce two crops per year, whereas most U.S. farmers would only be able to produce one in a full crop year.

The firm also devised

The largest ETF for Brazil has been forming a base since May and is now trying to break out as the government attempts to kick-start the economy.

The iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (EWZ) rose 2.8% in the past week and is 5.5% higher over the last three months. Nevertheless, the fund is still down 4.4% year-to-date. The ETF bounced last week at the 50-day simple moving average.

President Dilma Rousseff is pressuring banks to cut rates and reducing energy costs - electricity rates will drop an average 16.2% for households and 28% for producers - to help foster growth, Bloomberg reports.

"It's a new concept, a new attitude," Rousseff said in a national speech. "It means reducing production costs and the price of goods to generate jobs and income."

Rousseff also promised to create conditions for lower interest rates and diminish taxes while maintaining fiscal discipline.

Moreover,

By Joseph Hogue CFA

Brazilian stocks have been hit harder than other markets in Latin America, save for the obvious fallout in Argentina.

The Bovespa index is down 8.3% since the beginning of the year and 13.0% in the month of May. Only the loss in the Brazilian currency - falling by more than 15% from quarter highs, has overshadowed the weakness in Brazilian stocks. The pace of decline in the Brazilian real has caused the central bank to rethink its pace of rate cuts for fear that a depreciated currency will import inflation later in the year.

While the steepness of decline and the amount of stimulus being fed into the system may ultimately cause Brazilian stocks to rebound and outperform others in the region, the increasing level of policy and political risk threaten a systemic event and further long-term macroeconomic weakness. As the largest and most liquid market

by Ulysses de la Torre

Brazil's policy of weakening its currency to make exports more competitive has worked – maybe too well.

Night construction in Brazil

The real has lost 13% of its value against the dollar since March 1, to trade at just about 2:1. The Bovespa stock index has slid by almost exactly the same amount during that time, making the currency's future an all-important indicator for equity and ETF investors, but one subject to contradictory forces.

Even the president of the Brazilian Exporters Association said last week he prefers a stronger real in the 1.80-1.85 range. Yet unnamed currency speculators told Forbes they see a further nosedive to 2.2.

What's driving bearish sentiment on the real is President Dilma Rousseff's determination to push domestic interest rates lower. Earlier this month, she issued a decree removing the floor on interest paid by a popular form of

Over the past decade Brazil has experienced stunning economic growth and delivered exceptional investor returns. All of this has attracted increased investor interest and, I believe, seen many investors discount the risks associated with investing in Brazil. It is easy to see why, with Brazil over the last decade averaging annual GDP growth of 4%, reaching 6.1% in 2007, falling to -0.6% in 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis, and peaking at 7.5% in 2010. This is significantly higher on average for the same period, than the leading developed economies of the U.S. and the eurozone. It is this breathtaking rate of economic growth that saw Brazil in 2011 pass the UK to become the world's sixth largest economy. Furthermore, over this period the Brazilian stock index, the Bovespa, has risen by an extraordinary 382%, which represents an average annualized return of around 38%. This

The markets are positioning for the Brazilian economy to continue expanding, especially from the added investment and growth as the country hosts the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, but eurozone woes have tempered the appeal of riskier Brazilian equities and stock exchange traded funds.

The Brazilian central bank revealed Monday that economists have a positive perspective on Brazilian growth rates, with Brazil's economy projected to expand 3.22% in 2012, up from 3.21%, and 4.3% in 2013, up from 4.25%, reports Rogerio Jelmayer for the Wall Street Journal.

Economists also predict the central bank's benchmark Selic rate will remain at 9%, near its historic low rates, until the end of 2012 and increase to 10% at the end of next year.

"This puts the bank at a wait-and-see mode. It's difficult to say what they will do; they left the door wide open," Italo Lombardi, an economist with

My strategy is to analyze a few of the Brazilian ETFs to find the best investment option in this young and commodity-rick nation.

“THE” Brazil ETF

The largest of the ETF options is the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (NYSE: EWZ) with $9.65

Stocks drifted higher on Tuesday following a positive home-builders confidence report along with better-than-expected earnings from Bank of America. The real story of the day, however, was the impressive last-hour rally on Wall Street, fueled one again by optimism over the euro zone debt situation. Stocks surged on high-volume just an hour before the closing bell after news that Germany and France had reached an agreement to end the crisis hit the street. The news report announced that Germany and France have reached an agreement on a €2 trillion rescue fund which is roughly five times bigger than the current bailout program, which looks to be more than enough to prop up most of the weakest members in the bloc. In after-hours trading, shares of Apple sank more than 5% after the iconic consumer-electronics manufacturer missed analyst earnings expectations. Gold prices sank down to $1,628 an ounce

The impressive pace of expansion in the ETF industry over the last several years has been well documented; continuous product development has resulted in the launch of more than 250 so far in 2011, and there are now more than 1,300 names in the ETF lineup. But while the depth of the ETF space has increased, the industry remains quite top-heavy. A relatively small number of products accounts for the lion’s share of total assets.

Most of the largest ETFs are also among the oldest. Their impressive asset bases are perhaps more attributable to their seniority than the appeal of the underlying methodologies. In fact, impressive innovation in the industry has given investors plenty of alternatives to the “super tickers” that dominate the space.

The largest ETFs have become so popular for a reason. They generally offer cheap, liquid exposure to core asset classes. But for investors willing to dig

Last October, enthusiasm for Brazil had reached epic proportions. And why not? Not only had the iShares MSCI Brazil Fund (EWZ) risen 175% off its November 2008 lows, but the country constitutes one of the essential building blocks in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, China, India) fortress.

Indeed, the country boasts the world’s seventh largest economy, a consumption-oriented middle class and a treasure trove of natural resources. What’s more, Brazil figures to see a surge in tourism as well as infrastructure commitment due to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

So what in the world is wrong with Brazil ETFs? Year-over-year, they’ve experienced some of the harshest capital depreciation in the exchange-traded universe.

An unexpected interest rate cut in Brazil may provide momentum for exchange traded funds that invest in the Latin American country, such as iShares MSCI Brazil (EWZ).

Emerging market governments have been cautious as global growth engines have been sputtering and major developed nations are in a slowdown. Brazil was locked into a tightening cycle for most of 2011 to keep its economy from overheating, but now that commodity prices are weakening, policymakers have slashed interest rates, reports Samantha Pearson for Financial Times:

“Reviewing the international scenario, the monetary policy committee considers that there has been substantial deterioration, back up, for example, by large and widespread reductions to the growth forecasts of the main economic regions,” the central bank said.

On Wednesday, policymakers cut Brazil’s benchmark Selic rate by 50 basis points to 12% after recent hikes of 175 basis points this year. Major banks such as Goldman Sachs

It's mid-year and time to check my retirement portfolio asset allocation. I constantly watch the performance of my funds, ETFs and stocks, but I also need to periodically review my asset allocation to see if I need to re-balance or change my asset allocation. I thought it might be interesting to share part of the review process by looking at my portfolio's asset allocation and how I consider investment performance in that process.

Asset Allocation

Here is my asset allocation today:

(Click to enlarge)

I check the investment industry's average asset allocation as measured by MarketGlide for someone approximately my age, targeting a 2030 retirement. Here is the latest MarketGlide 2030 target date industry average asset allocation.

(Click to enlarge)

I use the MarketGlide allocation as a benchmark and try to stay close to those allocations unless I have strong convictions/views about certain asset classes. I can

William P. Jones is founder of William Jones & Associates, which manages $3.6 billion in client assets. Jones graduated from Harvard University in 1973. He founded WJ&A fifteen years later. Prior to forming WJ&A, Jones was a Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Mackay-Shields Associates. Before that, Jones worked as a Vice President and Trust Officer at Chase Manhattan Bank from 1980 until 1982.

According to the latest 13F filings, WJ&A had 260 securities worth $1.45 billion in its 13F portfolio as of March 31, 2011. We noticed that Jones has been holding 100 of these securities for at least five years. In the first quarter of 2011, he sold 20 securities and bought 31 new securities. He sold out $5 million worth of Brazil Mid-Cap ETF (BRAZ) and $3 million in Currency Shares Australian Dollar Trust (FXA) during that quarter. His biggest purchase in the first quarter was

An exchange traded fund following the movement of Brazil’s currency against the U.S. dollar has been rising after a steep pullback in late 2010 due to government intervention.

The $410 million WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real Fund (NYSEArca: BZF) is up about 7% year to date and more than 20% over the past 12 months, according to Morningstar.

Capital inflows to Brazil have pushed the currency, the real, higher and pressured exports. The Brazilian government has intervened in currency markets and bought dollars in an effort to cool the rise.

Investors like Brazil’s growth story and the economy is booming. Brazil Central Bank President Alexandre Tombini stated that economy is experiencing sustainable growth, reports Daniel Horch for iMarketNews.

The government recently announced that first quarter GDP expanded 1.3% over the previous quarter and 4.2% year-over-year.

WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real Fund - (click chart to expand)

“Domestic demand continues to

IndexIQ, the firm behind a suite of hedge fund replication ETFs and small-cap country-specific funds, notched another first for the ETF industry on Thursday. The IQ Japan Mid Cap ETF (RSUN) will seek to replicate an index that consists of about 100 mid-cap Japanese stocks. The weighted average market capitalization of the companies that make up the index will be approximately $3 billion.

RSUN is the ninth ETF in the Japan Equities ETFdb Category, and the first to focus exclusively on mid-cap stocks. RSUN will offer a tool for establishing complementary exposure to large-cap Japan ETFs (such as EWJ) and small-cap funds (including SCJ, JSC and DFJ). In recent years, investors have embraced small-cap and mid-cap equities as a means of establishing more “pure play” exposure to international markets. Whereas funds dominated by large caps tend to include multi-national firms that generate revenue around the globe (EWJ’s top