'Enabling Technologies' ETF Trounces Rivals

The Healthshares Enabling Technologies ETF (HHV Quote) easily beat the rest of the TheStreet.com Ratings' top-rated ETFs for July. The fund, which invests in what is described as "enabling technologies" in the fields of health care, life sciences and biotechnology, posted a return of 8.23% for July and 5.02% over three months.

ETFs positioned to profit from the rise of the Mexican Peso and U.S. government bond funds produced the next best returns for July.

In my view -- which in this case is based more on gut feeling than mathematical certainty -- there is a strong chance that the market will trend down for the remainder of the year and maybe into mid-2009. However, it is best to stick to short-term forecasts in markets that lack transparency and visibility.

If investors feel confident of further market declines through the end of the year -- which is three months away -- then they may want to consider shorting the market using the ProShares Ultra Short Russell 1000 Value Fund (SJF Quote). This fund has an excellent three-month return of 20.91%. It lost a little ground with the market uptick in July, but this appears to be reversing in its favor in August. All funds below carry a TSC Rating of A+.

FUND_NAME	TICKER	Category	1 Month Return	3 Month Return
HealthShares Enabling Technologies	HHV	Sector - Health/Biotechnology	8.23	5.02
CurrencyShares Mexican Peso Trust	FXM	Non-US Equity	3.29	6.39
iShares Lehman 3-7 Year Treasury Bd	IEI	Government Bond	0.72	0.21
SPDR Lehman Intermediate Tr Treas	ITE	Government Bond	0.54	0.05
iShares Lehman Intrm Govt/Crdt Bond	GVI	General Bd - Investment Grade	0.51	-0.34
iShares Lehman 10-20 Yr Treasury Bd	TLH	Government Bond	0.48	0.04
Vanguard Short Term Bond ETF	BSV	General Bd - Investment Grade	0.42	-0.18
CurrencyShares Swedish Krona Trust	FXS	Non-US Equity	-0.38	0.02
iPath EUR/USD Exch Rate ETN	ERO	Non-US Equity	-0.43	0.66
CurrencyShares Euro Trust	FXE	Non-US Equity	-0.54	0.85
SPDR Barclays Capital TIPS ETF	IPE	Government Bond	-0.56	1.66
ProShares Ultra Sht Rus 1000 Value	SJF	Equity Income	-0.61	20.91
PowerShares DB US Dollar Bearish Fd	UDN	Growth - Domestic	-0.81	0.00
PowerShares DB Precious Metals Fund	DBP	Sector - Precious Metals	-1.08	4.12
PowerShares DB Gold Fund	DGL	Sector - Precious Metals	-1.13	4.04
CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Tr	FXA	Non-US Equity	-1.34	1.48
CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust	FXF	Non-US Equity	-2.37	-0.77
ProShares Ultra Short Industrials	SIJ	Equity Income	-4.07	12.00
ProShares Ultra Sht Consumer Goods	SZK	Equity Income	-7.18	9.38