TheStreet.com Ratings Adds More ETFs

The more recent "hits" of investment fashion -- water and "Chindia" -- are mixed with some "misses" of the past year in the latest crop of 36 exchange-traded funds to receive grades from TheStreet.com Ratings.

Mixed in with the new class of rated ETFs in the accompanying table are some that achieved success by betting against the beleaguered U.S. dollar and others that have been capitalizing on the flight to safety for which many wounded investors have been opting.

Water, described as "the next oil" by many investors, helped the Claymore S&P Global Water ETF(CGW Quote) achieve a nine-digit asset value in little more than a year. But CGW's anemic total return of barely more than a single percentage point over the past year, coupled with a fractional slide in 2008 through the end of May, is surpassed by the First Trust ISE Water Index Fund(FIW Quote). The latter has rewarded its holders with a total return of 13.55% for the past year and 6.20% for 2008's first five months.

Another ETF hit from First Trust is in the fashionable "Chindia" genre -- portfolios combining investments from populous China and India -- the First Trust ISE Chindia Index Fund(FNI Quote). Although up by 14.79% over the past 12 months, it is off by almost a similar percentage for the first five months of this year. ...