Oscars And ETFs: The Godfather ETF Portfolio

With the Academy Awards scheduled for Sunday evening, movie buffs everywhere will be watching with anticipation to see who takes home the hardware this year. Inspire, our minds wondered back to the 1970s when the Godfather movies hit the big screen. Few movies can boast Oscar lore on par with the Corleones. The first Godfather won three Oscars in 1973 and was nominated for eight more. A couple years later, the Godfather II became the first sequel ever to win the Oscar for Best Picture. All told, the sequel took home six Oscars. Even the arguably ill-fated Godfather III, which came out in 1990, was nominated for seven Academy Awards. Well we've decided to celebrate the Oscars with a Godfather ETF portfolio. If the Corleones were around today, they might clean, er, invest some money in the following ETFs.

Before anyone accuses the Professor of ethnic stereotyping, he's going to tell you he's half Italian and that's true. Seriously, the iShares MSCI Italy Index Fund is a hard fund to endorse for the obvious reason that Italy could very well be next on Europe's hit parade after Greece and Portugal. That said, EWI is up over 12% year-to-date and if the volume could ever come into this thing to support a move above $14, the upside for short-term traders could be worth the risk. Put a stop at $12 if you're getting involved here.

Adjusted for inflation, it's quite possible that if Michael Corleone and Hyman Roth converted their ill-gotten fortunes to today's dollar they would still be "bigger than U.S. Steel

." That company, an SLX constituent, has a market cap of $4 billion. SLX has been a

. However, the action hasn't impressed this month. If SLX can consolidate in the $54-$55 with dropping below the low end of that range, it's worth a look for a run to $60 as a swing trade.

New and still thinly traded, the PowerShares DB Italian Treasury Bond Futures ETN measures the performance of a long position in Euro-BTP futures with an original term of no longer than 16 years and remaining term to maturity of not less than 8 years and 6 months and not more than 11 years as of the futures contract delivery date. So if you're willing to bet on Italian bonds being attractive again at some point, ITLY might be worth a look. Remember, Italy is the third-largest bond issuer in the world.

Another obvious constituent for this list, there are legitimate reasons to

. In the near-term, BJK's chart is strong and the ETF could be at a new 52-week high in a matter of weeks. Over the long haul, BJK's international exposure has the potential to deliver even more upside.

Michael Corleone owned shares Dow component International Business Machines

. He told a Senate committee as much in the Godfather II. IBM is XLK's third-largest holding at over 8%, making the ETF a fine way of getting involved with three triple-digit tech darlings for less than $29. We're talking about Apple

and Google

in addition to IBM. Combined that trio represents almost a third of XLK's weight.