5 ETFs to Watch This Week

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are five ETFs to watch this week.

PowerShares Golden Dragon Halter USX China Portfolio (PGJ)

TheStreet and other financial media outlets have been buzzing recently in regard to the SEC's probe into U.S.-listed Chinese firms. It is unclear as to how far the investigation will reach but for now investors should use a sharp eye when venturing into some China-focused ETFs.

PGJ has me more concerned than other large cap China ETFs such as the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund (FXI). Whereas FXI tracks a basket of companies traded on China and Hong Kong exchanges, PGJ tracks a collection of U.S.-listed Chinese ADRs. These companies, which have a dual listing on U.S. stock exchanges, are more likely to fall under the SEC's scrutiny.

iPath Dow Jones UBS Copper Total Return Subindex ETN (JJC)

Copper continues to be watched as investors mull ways to track the ongoing economic recovery. The red metal has received a lot of coverage last week after the Wall Street Journal reported that a single trader owns 80%-90% of the copper in the London Metal Exchange. This stockpile, valued at $3 billion, represents nearly half of the world's exchange listed copper.

It will be interesting to see if more details of this story are uncovered in the coming week.

In the absence of a physically based copper ETF, the most direct way ETF investors can gain access to this base metal is through the futures-based JJC or the PowerShares DB Base Metals Fund (DBB). It is also possible to track a collection of copper miners using the Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX).

SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)

Although economic headwinds are sure to remain as we head into the New Year, we continue to see evidence that the markets are well on the path to recovery. For instance, last week, the S&P 500 regained levels last seen prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

December has been another great month for the S&P and the rest of the broad marketplace. Looking ahead to the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see if these levels can be maintained.

PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA)

The food industry has become a closely watched region of the market as a number of agricultural products including cotton and sugar have taken off on a tear. While, the rising prices of sugar and cotton have aided ETNs such as iPath Dow Jones UBS Sugar Total Return Subindex ETN (SGG) and iPath Dow Jones UBS Cotton Total Return Subindex ETN (BAL) respectively, they have also helped power the DBA well above previous 2010 and 2009 highs.

1 2 Next › Last »