Unexpected ETFs among top performers

Sometimes widening your outlook yields some surprises. Case in point: evaluating how strongly certain ETFs have been trending lately.

Take a look at the free preview of Alert HQ Premium. There are two reports so far that focus on ETFs. The more limited report, the Style and Sector ETF Scorecard, focuses on the most well known sectors and styles such as large cap, small cap, value, growth, etc. There are a total of 30 ETFs that are representative of these styles and sectors. This report has EEM, the iShares MSCI Emerging Index Fund, as its top performer (with the highest possible score of 6.0) followed by EFA, the iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund and IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund, both ranked at 5.5. This is consistent with what we've been hearing -- first, that foreign stocks are more in favor than U.S. stocks and second, that a simple U.S. stock index is a decent investment.

Contrast this with the ETF Scorecard. This report covers 313 ETFs including those on the Style and Sector ETF Scorecard. There are a good number of ETFs with the top ranking of 6.0, many of them quite unexpected.

For example, we have the IFSM, iShares FTSE Developed Small Cap ex-North America Index Fund, IFAS, the iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Asia Index Fund, IFEU, the iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index Fund (who would expect any kind of European fund let alone a real estate fund to be doing that well?), IFGL, the iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate ex-U.S. Index Fund (yes, real estate is in favor!). Other surprises include PGJ, the PowerShares Golden Dragon Halter USX China Portfolio, that has a top rating despite the fact that Chinese markets have dropped over 20% and are struggling to recover.

Note that among the lowest rated ETFs are those that are focused on the financials. It's hard to see why these ETFs don't deserve their lowly status.

So I encourage you to check out these reports. There are lots of lesser known ETFs that are actually performing quite well and you may want to get familiar with these strong performers.

Don't delay; take a look while Alert HQ Premium is still offering its free preview.