Look To These ETFs For "The Next Silver"

It's practically the national past time of Wall Street. That is asking “Who's next?” Who's next to be acquired? What stock will be the next (insert legendary stock here)? And while it is arguable that silver's run is anywhere close to complete, it seems like a good time to ask: Who or what is the next silver? More specifically, what are the ETFs investors may want to take a look at that have the potential to even sniff the almost 157% returned in the past year by the iShares Silver Trust SLV? In no particular order, here's a list of intriguing candidates. 1) Market Vectors Rare Earths/Strategic Metals ETF REMX REMX is home to some of the same issues, both good and bad, that an ETF like SLV has had deal with on the way up. On the bad side, rare earths bears are vocal in their skepticism regarding the ascent of rare earths prices. For the bulls, rare earths prices have shot higher in a fashion that is similar to that of silver and the additional thorn in the side of the bears here is that there is plenty of industrial demand for rare earths that is not dwindling. In fact, demand is increasing. There is plenty of talk about a bubble with rare earths (Hey, we've heard that with silver, too.), and shorts have been piling into REMX and Molycorp MCP, the largest U.S.-based rare earths miner, in recent weeks, so those are issues to consider. Overall, it's probably a safe bet that REMX is higher in 6-12 months, but asking for a near triple as SLV has done is asking a bit much as REMX is beholden to equity market risk since it tracks stocks, not an underlying commodity. 2) iPath DJ-UBS Coffee TR Sub-Index ETN JO: JO has more than doubled in the past year as coffee prices have continued to touch record high after record high. Feeling a bit more of a pinch during your morning trips to the local Starbucks SBUX? There's a reason for that and JO's chart tells the story. Sure, JO looks overbought, but consider this tidbit from Bloomberg News: “Brazil, the world's biggest coffee grower, is facing the risk of frost after hail this month, raising the prospect of a 40 percent jump in bean costs...” Again, no one can say JO is going to deliver the returns we've seen with SLV, but it appears the fundamentals are aligning in JO's favors. 3) Teucrium Corn ETF CORN: It should be noted that Josh Brown, The Reformed Broker, floated the idea of corn being another silver. Think a 40% jump in coffee prices sounds nice? Brown says corn could see a 60% jump in prices. Corn currently trades for $7.60 a bushel and could surge to $12 a bushel, Brown says. For a pure play on corn, CORN is the best non-futures market option and Teucrium has done a far better job of mitigating contango in its ETFs than other issuers of futures-based commodities funds have done. 4) Guggenheim Timber ETF CUT: Like REMX, this is an equity play, not a futures trade, but it pays to note global timber prices rose 20% in the first quarter, led by Asian demand. Some reports suggest that China may have to import about 182 million cubic meters of wood by 2015, up almost 70% from its current levels, according to ETFdb.com. Imagine the alpha potential with CUT if the U.S. housing market ever improves. Emerging markets demand for timber and the material's benefits as an inflation hedge could mean hot money will eventually find its way to CUT and other timber ETFs.