Five Other Strong Dollar ETFs

When it comes to a discussion about a strong dollar and ETFs, the conversation will usually find its way to the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF UUP. UUP measures the performance of the greenback against the euro, yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and Swedish krona. Simple enough, but are there other ETFs with which to get strong-dollar exposure without directly being involved in the currency market? Yes, there are and some of the candidates might just surprise you. Here are five backdoor plays on the strength of the U.S. dollar. iShares MSCI Taiwan Index Fund EWT: We'll just let someone else explain why EWT is a good strong dollar idea. In this case, the “someone” is Credit Suisse. The bank said as the U.S. dollar gains strength, Taiwan stocks will benefit. For every 1% the Taiwan dollar falls, local companies add 2.3% profits, according to the bank. The idea is valid, but EWT has seen its share of struggles lately because it's an emerging markets ETF and few investors have woken up to its strong-dollar properties. Global X Mexico Small-Cap ETF MEXS: Obviously, Mexico benefits when the greenback is strong because it means Mexican exports command higher prices here in the U.S. That much is true and it warrants a look at the newly minted Global X Mexico Small-Cap ETF. Be advised MEXS faces the same conundrum as EWT and MEXS is trading near its all-time low as we write this. iShares MSCI France Index Fund EWQ: This one may be a surprise, but consider this: Nearly 77 million international tourists flocked to France last year, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. That's well above the nearly 60 million that came to the U.S. and you can bet a lot of the visitors to France were Americans. A strong dollar means a falling euro and that means it's cheaper for Americans to buy Hermes, Chanel and all the other French goodies. And yes, EWQ features a weight of more than 16% to consumer discretionary names. First Trust Nasdaq Global Auto Index Fund CARZ: When Toyota TM, Honda HMC, Daimler and BMW account for roughly 28% of an ETF's weight, cheering for a strong dollar makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? iShares S&P Global Consumer Discretionary Index Fund RXI: The aforementioned auto makers also call RXI home along with other discretionary names with global footprints such as Walt Disney DIS and LVMH Moet Hennessy. Home to 167 stocks, RXI has an expense ratio of 0.48% and $123.2 million in assets under management.