ETF Screener: The Grains of a Collapse

The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ all closed a little below the support levels we wrote about Monday. The futures are pointing more losses today, YEAH!. Anybody who acted on the 6 short Ideas we posted yesterday should be feeling pretty good so far. Too much downward pressure and we will be destined to test the market lows achieved in November.

In today’s ETF Screener we will highlight some ETFs that we can short or go up as the markets fall and some off the radar funds that might trade higher.

Of all the indexes, the Dow Jones is standing closest to the edge of the cliff. UltraShort Dow30 ProShares (DXD) will deliver double handsome profits if the index does make a return trip to 7500 in the near future.

On the currency front, Market Vectors Double Short Euro ETN (DRR) delivers twice the punch when the EURO falls, and the charts say the EURO could fall more. The news that Mexico could collapse cannot be good for the Mexican Peso; shorting or buying put options on CurrencyShares Mexican Peso Trust (FXM) might make sense.

Add regional banks to the list of possible collapses. Chart after chart for these ETFs looked disastrous:

iShares Dow Jones US Regional Banks (IAT)

SPDR KBW Regional Banking (KRE)

PowerShares Dynamic Banking (PJB)

Regional Bank HOLDRs (RKH)

Buying Puts or shorting any of the above Bank ETFs could add some interest to your portfolio’s bottom line.

Agriculture and grain ETFs actually posted some buy signals. iPath DJ AIG Grains TR Sub-Idx ETN (JJG) and the AG ETFs PowerShares DB Agriculture (DBA) and iPath DJ AIG Agriculture TR Sub-Idx ETN (JJA)all squeezed out gains yesterday despite the market’s fall. Oddly PowerShares DB Agriculture Dble Shrt ETN (AGA), which rises when the underlying index falls, also was up?

Finally, it looks like gas prices might be headed a little higher. Investing in United States Gasoline (UGA) could offset any pain at the pump if the chart’s forecast proves to be correct.