Global X Filing Palooza

IndexUniverse reported that Global X filed for 22 ETFs including the following single country funds;

Global X FTSE Portugal 20 ETF
Global X FTSE Ukraine ETF
Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF
Global X Hungary ETF
Global X Luxembourg ETF
Global X FTSE Morocco 20 ETF
Global X Czech Republic ETF
Global X Slovakia ETF
Global X Qatar ETF
Global X Kuwait ETF
Global X Nigeria ETF
Global X FTSE Bangladesh ETF
Global X FTSE Sri Lanka ETF
Global X Kazakhstan ETF

Beyond the fact that we don't know if they will list or when there are several different angles to address with this.

First up would be if there is any utility to these countries in an investment portfolio. As for Portugal and Greece it is reasonable to think that if Europe ever recovers that it would be the worst hit countries that could snap back the fastest. This would be happening without my money or my clients money but that is the argument. The Luxembourg ETF is a head scratcher as I don't think there are a lot companies doing business there so much as listing there.

Eastern Europe exposure ex-Russia is very interesting to me as a lot of these countries have their acts together and appear to be starting to catch up to the Western countries in terms of prosperity, quality of life and disposable income. The Ukraine has a lot of farming but I am not sure if that will be represented in the fund. I've read some very good things about the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

As far as Nigeria, Mark Mobius likes the banks there, I've mentioned Maroc (as in Morocco) Telecom favorably once or twice but I don't know a lot about these countries. I don't have a lot of interest in the Middle East ex-Israel but Qatar has a lot of natural gas and I am pretty sure the Kuwait fund would be heavy in financials--maybe Qatar too.

Jim Rogers was real big on Sri Lanka for a short while in anticipation of the civil conflict there ending but I have not heard him say much about it since but it is a place I would like to learn about.

I've mentioned Kazakhstan several times in the past; it is very resource rich, will become more globally relevant because of this but has serious corruption issues. A couple of the banks have failed but the mining companies, there are several traded in London, are performing in line with the industry. It has been obvious to me that at some point there will be an ETF for Kazakhstan and now it looks like it is coming to fruition. A Kazakhstan ETF and the proposed Mongolia ETF from Market Vectors could combine to make for a pretty good materials sector allocation.

Another angle here would be one of skepticism. I can hear Herb Greenberg kvetching already but if Big Western Europe and Japan are looking at another lousy decade and you want foreign exposure then what are you going to do? I think the logical answer is look at other countries besides Big Western Europe and Japan. If this is plausible then I don't see where fewer choices would be better.

Assuming the sector issues work out it would be valid to have exposure to four or five different parts of the world with one or two holdings from each region to comprise the foreign portion of the portfolio. Why not Chile, Norway, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Singapore and New Zealand? That the investment world is getting flatter is a definite positive IMO. If you have any interest in Hungary you were probably looking at either the ma bell telecom company or the big oil company and if the ETF ever lists then you will have another choice. For some would-be buyers of Hungary the telecom company or the big oil company will still be the way to go but for some others the ETF will be best same as any other sector, country or theme.

We had a little fire Saturday night as a lightning strike lit up a dead tree. The ground was soaked from a serious rainstorm earlier in the evening. We had four firefighters on the scene plus the duty officer from the Forest Service. It was up a very steep hill and required quite a few trips so it was a good workout and also a lot of problem solving. It was probably the funnest fire I've ever been on because while we worked very hard there was no reasonable worry about it getting out of control for how wet everything was and obviously the problem solving aspect makes it very fun.