3. TIPs/ Bonds. TIPS, or U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, are aptly named, as they are designed specifically to pay you a steady yield adjusted to the U.S. Consumer Price Index. iShares Barclays TIPS Bond (TIP), up 2.5% year-to-date.
4. Futures. There are a number of ETFs that trade futures available today – it’s a much simpler route to take for the average investor. PowerShares DB Agriculture (DBA) is just one such ETF that holds futures in corn, wheat, sugar and soybeans. It’s up 4.4% year-to-date. You can find more ETFs that hold futures here.
5. Non-U.S. Stocks. Remember this works both ways: If inflation does not turn out to be a problem here in the United States and the U.S. dollar actually strengthens versus other currencies, your foreign stock investments will suffer. There are dozens of international ETFs that hold non-U.S. stocks – visit the provider’s page to find out the holdings and decide whether they’re right for you.
For more stories on commodities, visit our commodity ETF category.
For full disclosure, Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of TIP.