WisdomLongCall's  Instablog

Last November, China handed over power to the fifth generation of Chinese Communist-Party leaders. And the new State Council-in essence, China's government-will be announced in March at the 12th National People's Congress.

One of the big challenges for the new leadership will be transitioning from a mainly export-based economy to one driven by domestic consumption. For this to happen, Beijing needs to allow the Chinese currency, the yuan (or renminbi), to rise versus its major trading partners.

The best way to play this long-term trend is through the CurrencyShares Chinese Renminbi Trust (FXCH). This gives you access to the yuan through your regular broker. And it has the lowest fees (at just 0.40%) of three available yuan-focused ETFs.

If you are bullish on China's long-term growth prospects…or are concerned about the weakness of the U.S. dollar…FXCH makes sense.

Since president Obama took the office in 2008 through Election Day 2012, SPY, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the S&P 500, gained 41%. Meanwhile, EEB, an ETF that tracks stocks in the BRIC countries, gained 30%. EEM, an emerging-markets equities ETF, gained 52%, in the same period too.

But these gains pale in comparison to those made by gold-tracking ETF GLD, which rose 116% over the same time.

I am definitely bullish on gold-partly due to rising demand from emerging market consumers and partly due to the incredible levels of money-printing in the developed world.

But the best performer of the last four years was silver. SLV, an ETF designed to track the spot price of silver bullion, rose 198%.

Silver tends to be more volatile than gold. But if history is a guide,

it may be a great asset to own over the next four years, too.

Some kind of euro-zone break-up has become a possible scenario. Thus, an army of attorneys is already working on behalf of businesses trying to prepare for this.

In the same time, the biggest European banks are trying to figure out how to cope with the impact an exit of one or more countries from the euro zone would have on their derivatives positions in particular on credit-default swaps (CDS) on sovereign debt.

If Greece…or Spain…or Italy were to default on its debt, this would trigger a chain reaction of bankruptcies. Business banks, particularly European investment banks, could endorse massive losses.

One way to bet on this current risk is to buy shares in the ProShares UltraShort Euro (NYSE:EUO). This fund seeks to provide daily investment results (before fees and expenses) that correspond to twice (200%) the opposite (inverse) of the daily performance of the US$ price of the Euro. If the euro falls apart, EUO will be one of the biggest to skyrocket.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.