Dion's Weekly ETF Blog Wrap

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- 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.

Here are three of his blog posts from the past week:

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Consider Investing in the Great White North

Published 2/25/2011 11:50 a.m. EST

Many international ETFs have taken a hit this year, particularly "BRIC" (Brazil, Russia, India and China) themed ETFs that track popular emerging markets. Investors looking to diversify beyond U.S. markets, however, need to look no further than our neighbor to the North and the iShares MSCI Canada (EWC). EWC has advanced more than 11% in the last three months, and a raft of earnings next week could help lift the fund even higher.

Three leading Canadian banks -- which are each included in EWC's underlying portfolio -- are slated to release their quarterly earnings numbers next week. Together, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) and the Bank of Montreal (BMO) account for close to 15% of the fund's total portfolio. Fellow top holding Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) is listed on this week's earnings calendar as well. CNQ represents makes up 3.7% of the fund's total index.

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Canada's big financial firms have held up well in 2011, and the country's abundant natural resources continue to be attractive to outside investors. Energy companies are strongly represented in the EWC portfolio, and rising commodity prices should also help to push the fund higher.

EWC is a large, liquid ETF with an average daily trading volume of more than 2.5 million shares. In addition to RBC, TD, BMO, and CNQ, other top EWC components include Suncor Energy (SU), Potash (POT), Barrick Gold (ABX) and Goldcorp (G).

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