When it comes to emerging markets ETFs that focus on more than one country, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM) is the 800-lb. gorilla in the room. EEM trades a huge amount of shares per day and the ETF is considered the bellwether among emerging markets ETF.

That said, the ETF Professor would like to call your attention to the Vanguard Europe Pacific ETF (NYSE: VEA), which is up a tidy 25% year-to-date.

VEA tracks the MSCI EAFE Index. VEA's largest holding HSBC (NYSE: HBC) accounts for just 1.74% of the total makeup, and other familiar names include BP (NYSE: BP), Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) and Telefonica (NYSE: TEF).

Obviously, VEA emphasizes developed markets in addition to emerging markets, so the ETF can act as a hedge against volatile emerging markets plays. The expense ratio is just 0.11%.

These three under-covered ETFs may be just what your portfolio needs.

India's market may dip, but in the long term, privatization should be a big plus for the country.

The vast majority of 'diversified' investors have some exposure to equities outside of the United States. This is done to provide access to higher growth emerging markets, exposure to equities that are not 100% correlated with US markets, and possibly to hedge against the US Dollar.

However, recently owning foreign equities has become a levered bet (2x to 3x) against the US Dollar with the underlying 'country specific growth story’ a secondary factor in returns.

One may ask, "Is it possible to own foreign investments without betting against the dollar and obtaining only the country specific growth/income return?"

The answer is yes, but choices are somewhat limited. There are no ETFs currently offered that invest in foreign companies but then hedge the dollar exposure. Wisdomtree filed for 2 such ETFs back in March 2009 but to date none are trading.

In the mutual fund world there are a couple options including Tweedy's original Global Value (TBGVX) or Mutual European, and PIMCO International StocksPLUS TR Strategy (PIPAX).

An investor could also partially hedge himself by buying an unhedged foreign ETF or fund (Ishares Developed Markets (NYSE: EFA) or Ishares Emerging Markets (NYSE: EEM)) and then purchasing a long dollar ETF (Powershares US Dollar Bullish NYSE: UUP). This would not be a perfect hedge of course, since your currency hedge will not be foreign currency specific, but the combination of ETFs will dampen the currency effect on the investments. Wisdomtree does offer some country specific currency ETFs which could produce better hedges.

Overall it is a little talked about strategy that could prove very useful if the US Dollar doesn’t fizzle into oblivion.

Emerging markets ETFs are moving higher today and the ETF Professor has noted one leveraged play that is solidly bullish on robust volume. The Ultra MSCI Emerging Mkts ProShares (NYSE: EET) is up nearly 5% and made a new 52-week of $89.72 earlier.

EET seeks to replicate twice the daily performance of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE: EEM). EET normally trades about 46,300 shares per day, but is already close to 57,000 shares with more than 2.5 hours left in the trading day.

If you're looking to double up on emerging markets, EET may be the way to go.

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Beth Gaston Moon takes a look at options activity on the Street today.

I want to talk about the challenge of exponential growth in a finite world. This is a concept that while on its surface seems easy to get, most people don’t fully grasp it. Any growth rate that is positive will lead to a doubling in size eventually — the higher the growth rate, the quicker the [...]

(EEM) Exponential Growth – Finite World

John Hussman, manager of Hussman Strategy Growth Fund (HSGFX) proposed price to peak 10 year average earnings as a long term stock market valuation metric. Compared with the normal one year price to earning ratio, Price to Peak Earnings would eliminate short term noise.[More...]

Cusick’s Corner The Dollar just keeps slipping and this really should not come as a surprise following comments from the G-20 and the fact that the Treasury does not seem to mind the weak Dollar. After this most recent leg up it is hard to say which market sectors or names look appealing ...

What do you get when you mix India with Small Cap Stocks? Well, that would be the Market Vectors India Small-Cap ETF according to this week's BusinessWeek print copy. If a broader emerging markets ETF for small caps is any barometer, the SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Small Cap ETF (EWX) is up 80% YTD. Compare that to 59% for iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) a comparable proxy for emerging markets stocks (refer to this list of all Emerging Markets ETFs) and 18% for the S&P500 (SPY).

Of course, with massive returns like this comes greater volatility and risk of implosion. If you have a spot for speculative investments in your portfolio though, this one may be worth holding for the long term since both emerging markets and small caps in general tend to be more volatile and hence, provide supercharged returns in up markets over time.

At the moment, no word on when this new ETF will be available or what the ticker will be. The Van Eck Fund Filing page is devoid of any information. I'll be sure to update as soon as the information becomes available, so be sure to Subscribe to RSS or follow my Twitter.

Source: BusinessWeek Edition 16-Nov-2009

Disclosure: No position in EEM. Ratio Put Spread hedged position in SPY.

Today’s tickers: XLF, ETFC, CF, HGSI, EEM, BEBE, SMH, VRTX, HGSI, F & LDK

XLF - Financial Select Sector SPDR – A large bearish spread in the June 2010 contract suggests one investor feels the need for downside protection through expiration. Shares are slightly up this afternoon by about 0.25% to $14.09. The trader purchased 20,000 put options at the June 14 strike for an average premium of 1.91 apiece. He financed the long position by selling 20,000 puts at the June 11 strike for 74 cents each, and by selling another 20,000 puts at the lower June 10 strike for 51 cents premium. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 66 cents per contract. The investor responsible for the three-legged spread is possibly holding a long stock position in the XLF. The put options might then serve to protect the value of the position in the event that shares decline beneath the effective breakeven point at $13.34 by expiration. The fact that the trader is short two times as many puts indicates this investor expects a pullback but not a collapse beneath the lower strike price of $10.00.

ETFC - E*Trade Financial Corp. – The Wall Street Journal reported that ETFC withdrew its application for funding through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) because the company’s “recent capital-raising and debt-reduction efforts negates the need for the money.” E*Trade raised $150 million by selling stock in the third quarter out of some $765 million of sold stock this year. The seemingly bullish news that the company no longer plans to participate in the capital-purchase program did not do much for the current share price, which slipped 6% lower to $1.37. Our scanners picked up on interesting options activity this afternoon that may or may not have been inspired by today’s news. It appears 95,000 put options sold at the January 1.0 strike for about 5.5 pennies apiece. One may infer the transaction represents bullish sentiment on ETFC if the sale of the put options is fresh activity. If this is the case, the trader pockets the 5.5 cents premium, and expects shares to remain above $1.00 through expiration. However, the sale could also be the work of an investor closing out a long put position given the already high reading of open interest at the small number of available strike prices.

CF - CF Industries Holdings, Inc. – The manufacturer of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer…