Welcome to 2012!

The Year 2011 is now history but what a turbulent year it was! The S&P 500 after all the volatility, and gyrations finally ended up going nowhere. That pretty much sums up what happened in 2011! It was a difficult year for investors. Most ideas both on the long and short side may not have worked.

As technical market watchers for the most part we were able to spot light on a lot of interesting ETFS this year for our members. We had focused both on Strength and Contrarian ETFS this year and we hope to continue to do that in the coming year as well via our ETFTrack E-Newsletter.

No one has a Crystall Ball to foretell what ETFS are going to work in 2012. A lot of interesting global developments are taking place. But from a macro perspective, these are some ETFS that we are watching closely.

GLD - Gold ETF

• Gold has been taking a beating since September 2011 pretty much coinciding with the rise in the US Dollar. Technically, GLD looks very much fractured. The long term trend in GLD still appears intact despite the recent carnage. This is one ETF investors may want to watch to add at lower levels in 2012.

DBC - Commodities

• Commodities in general have been hammered in 2011. The rise in US Dollar augmented the downside even further. Concerns on growth in emerging market economies are also hurting the demand for commodities or at least the speculative effect in commodities. We expect demand to pick up in the second half of the year. Investors may want to watch this ETF from a value perspective.

TLT - Long Term Treasuries

• Long Term Treasuries finished 2011 strongly. Demand for US T-Bonds has never ebbed in the recent past much to the surprise of some established bond investors. Technically, TLT looks poised for a breakout in the near term. We expect long term bonds to be attractive in 2012 and investors may want to keep an eye on this ETF.

EEB - BRIC Markets

• Emerging Markets disappointed investors in a major way in 2011. Turmoils in Europe and a slowdown in the US have taken a toll on emerging markets as a whole. Brazil, Russia, India, and China are still powerful growth engines and we can expect to see more growth oriented actions emanating from these regions. EEB provides broad exposure to these regions and one investors may want to watch in 2012 closely!

QQQ - NASDAQ 100

• The NASDAQ 100 tracking ETF provides a broad exposure to largest technology companies. NASDAQ which was leading in early 2011, backpedaled a bit in late 2011. Fear of a slowdown in US tech earnings has impacted QQQ a little. From a technical perspective this ETF is somewhat in neutral territory. We expect QQQ to be somewhat sluggish in the near term but investors may want to keep an eye on this as it can reflect US economic growth over the longer term.

DIA - Dow 30

• These are some of the largest multi national corporations in the world and the DIA has led many US large cap ETFS in 2011. In the near term DIA appears attractive from a technical perspective. But, a move above 13000 levels will require the world economic situation to change remarkably and we don't foresee that happening at least in the 1st half of 2012. DIA is undoubtedly an important ETF to watch.

XLF - US Financials

• Financials have been consolidating in recent months. But sentiment has been very weak in this sector. A resolution in Europe over the course of the next 6 months can make this sector become more appealing. The risk element is higher for this sector but long term investors may want to look at this over the course of the year from a value perspective.

No matter what, investors should continue to brace for some volatility in the markets in 2012. The problems in Europe haven't gone away and the US Presidential Election heat is already on. So, buckle up!

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