A Safer Way to Play Euro Emerging Markets

This stands to help the Austrian banks, the rest of the Austrian market and the economy.

EWO is a simple way to access the Austrian market and capture the effect that I believe has been lifting the Austrian market for a couple of years and that I think will continue for some time to come.

The ETF is benchmarked to the MSCI Austria index. EWO has a 21.3% weight in banks, with Erste Bank being the second largest component of the fund with a 16.5% weight. Erste just reported earnings on Aug. 1 that were up 21%, beating estimates. Earnings growth is expected to continue to be "robust," according to analyst Stefan-Michael Stalmann from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

Without EWO, it would be very difficult for U.S. investors to access Austria's growth. There is only one NYSE-listed ADR, Telekom Austria(TKA Quote). The other ADRs trade on the bulletin board or pink sheets, which makes accessing them very difficult.

In general terms, if you believe that Austrian banks will continue to benefit from expansion in Eastern Europe, EWO is the path of least resistance.

Another nugget that makes Austria compelling is that for the last two years money from the national pension system has been systematically going into the stock market -- think social security privatization without all the small accounts. Because there's a constant buying demand for shares, this privatization has been a huge boon to other countries, like Chile, that have implemented it. It's already been a contributing factor to the run-up in Austria, and it should continue.

Another, less important catalyst is the anonymity with which Austria exists. Very few people talk about the country, but this is changing. Morgan Stanley(MWD Quote) just became the sixth international investment bank to set up shop in Vienna and more may follow. On July 29, CNBC Europe made a plea on the air for any firm investing in Austria to contact the network so they can begin to cover the market.