E A Great Country, A Great ETF, And A Great Price!

Commodities and basic materials are not exactly a popular investment theme these days. Citicorp analysts predict oil is vulnerable to $20, the demand for industrial metals has plummeted, chemical companies can’t get any traction, and farmers aren’t buying any more equipment, supplies and fertilizer than they must.  Of course, we don’t invest for today; we invest today to be where we want to be  tomorrow.  If only we could add some hi tech to the mix, it’d be great.  And, what the heck, let’s dare to dream and say if we can do it with a near 7% yield, we’d like it even better!  

Well… there is a country ETF we’ve owned before that may be just the ticket: the Global X Norway ETF (NORW.)  One caveat before we go on.  This is not a currency-hedged ETF.  If the US dollar continues to climb against every other world currency, our returns in Norwegian kroner will take a haircut when the fund translates those returns into dollar-denominated numbers.  I may be in the minority here, but I am skeptical that the dollar will continue its meteoric rise.  QE in Japan and Euroland is likely to have a beneficial effect on those economies as investors begin to perceive that they may not be such basket cases after all.  And, about the dollar?  Trees do not grow to the clouds.  With oil priced in dollars, either the entire oil-consuming world will rebel at the prices they must pay in inflated dollars or we will have to intervene and cool its ascent.

Besides, if ever there was a nation that is likely to enjoy a strong currency when others fail, it would be one that has a $900 billion sovereign wealth fund established for the future of its people, a nation blessed with abundant natural resources in demand for export trade, and a AAA country credit rating from S&P, Moody’s and Fitch.  That would describe Norway, so I’m less concerned with currency fluctuation here