The recent financial crisis may have beaten down markets both here and abroad, but there is still a way to strategize with short exchange traded funds (ETFs).

The decreased demand in commodities has also come during a time when international markets are weak, however, the ProShares MSCI Short Emerging Markets (EUM) can help investors capitalize on this index, says Don Dion of Seeking Alpha.

Market factors and regulation make investment in these types of funds risky, yet they can be useful as part of a larger investment strategy during times like these.

EUM tracks the inverse of the MSCI index, and emerging economies have been dealt their worst punches lately. All of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries have been underperforming the United States, making investors question the diversification and decoupling points.

Felix Salmon for Seeking Alpha says that the countries may have risen together with the United States and then fallen together, but he hardly thinks they will rise again in unison the second time around.

Think of the BRICs on three main axes: politics, demographics, and commodities. While Russia and Brazil are huge commodities plays, they are polar opposites on a political and demographic scale, and Russian  politics have integrated into the price of their stocks, and will do so also to the Chinese stocks. Both Russia and China have a shrinking and aging  population.

For the long-term, Salmon sees the correlation between these countries going down. As of now, there are the declines: Brazil, down 55%; Russia down 65%; China down 57%; India down 58%. For now, the markets are reeling, but some of the most beaten down sectors could perform the best in a  recovery.

The Claymore/BNY BRIC (EEB) is down 45.4% year-to-date.

Tags: Asia, Brazil, BRICs, China, Eastern Europe, EEM, Emerging Markets, EUM, India, Latin America, Russia, Sector ETFs