Don Dion's Weekly ETF Blog Wrap

Don Dion posts his current insights on the stock, bond, commodity and currency markets in his RealMoney blog , anticipating which ETFs will be in play next. This week, among his blogs featured below, he wrote about new and existing ETFs that invest in Brazil, nuclear energy, and GE.

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Go Small-Time With This Brazil ETF

Posted 6/29/2009 1 p.m. EDT

With its large pool of natural resources including oil, gas, gold and sugar cane and its interest in international trading rather than military presence, Brazil has managed to hold strength during the global crunch. Traditionally, investors looking for a taste of the South American nation had only iShares MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ Quote) to turn to. A new tool, Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap (BRF Quote) ETF, introduced by Van Eck Global, allows investors to dabble in the small-cap area of Brazil's market.

EWZ follows an index made up of the largest, most liquid companies that the country has to offer. Some of these firms include industrial materials giant Vale (VALE Quote), and energy goliath Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR Quote). BRF's basket, on the other hand, is made up of smaller companies within Brazil's economy -- firms conducting most of their business from within the nation.

Van Eck's motive behind this fund's creation seems to be the idea that small-cap stocks are the best way to capture the country's rapidly growing middle-class and economic growth. This concept is shown by its avoidance of the energy and materials sectors that the other Brazil ETF focuses heavily on. Instead, the basket that BRF follows is made up of companies that directly affect the Brazilian population, the fifth largest in the world.