A Look Ahead: Next Week's ETFs to Watch

Another down week at the office for stocks as the third quarter drew to a close with U.S. equities notching their worst quarterly performance the fourth quarter of 2008. You know, the dark days of the financial crisis. During the third quarter, the S&P 500 shed 14% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was hardly better with a 12% loss. Are things looking up for the fourth quarter of the year? Not to be Debbie Downer, but probably not. Hopefully we're wrong about that, but the path of least resistance is clearly down for the time being. With that, here are some ETFs that will definitely be in play come Monday. Market Vectors Coal ETF KOL: Gone are the days when KOL was one of our favorite ETFs. Did you see that lower guidance issued by Arch Coal ACI after the bell on Friday? That's almost a guarantee that KOL will continue its bearish ways next week. Direxion Daily Agribusiness Bear 3X Shares COWS: Long-term, there's a lot to like about fertilizer stocks and other companies with exposure to the farm theme. Right now, these high-beta plays are to be avoided. Or shorted. Do that with the new and unheralded Direxion Daily Agribusiness Bear 3X Shares. COWS gained almost 10% on Friday. ProShares UltraShort Russell 2000 SRTY: The Russell 2000 is in major technical danger. On the other hand, SRTY is bumping against some stiff resistance and by tacking on 10 cents or so, a run from $26 to $32 isn't out of the realm of possibility. This is your small-cap play, folks. SPDR Gold Shares GLD: Gold has not obeyed its seasonal trends recently. Then again, the yellow metal hasn't really violated its long-term uptrend. The correction has been healthy, necessary and overdone. Now it's time for gold to resume its uptrend. ProShares UltraShort Emerging Markets EEV: There isn't a good to say about emerging markets ETFs right now except for some look like good values. Those good values are destined to be great in a week or two, meaning those ETFs are going to decline in price. Cozy up to EEV as the way to play emerging markets in the near-term.