Commodities. As for commodities ETFs, many have been drawing assets and attention. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) boasts $37.5 billion in assets and is up 19.5% year-to-date. Commodities ETFs have really felt the heat this year as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has stepped up regulation and is expected to impose position limits on certain ETFs soon. (Is the gold rally overheated?)
As with global ETFs, there are commodity ETFs that go from broad to narrow. Learn how to pick your spots here.
The Dollar’s Short Side. PowerShares offers two ETFs that seek to reflect the performance of the U.S. dollar long or short. As the dollar heads lower, investors might find the PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Bearish (NYSEArca: UDN) appealing. It’s up 8.3% year-to-date.
Dollar hedging can also be done with ETFs that track other currencies. Our currency special report has a list of the available ones out there, as well as explanations of how they operate.
As with any sector or asset class, always have a plan in place for both entry and exit. No trend goes on indefinitely, so by having a strategy and being prepared to act when necessary, you can give yourself the opportunity to be in for a potential long-term uptrend and out in time to protect yourself on the downside. (How to follow trends).
Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.