A Look Ahead: Next Week's ETFs To Watch

Stocks ended the week on a glum note as the October jobs report disappointed. That was enough to send the S&P 500 to its first weekly drop since September. That index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both lost just over 1% for the week while the Nasdaq was the outperformer, sort of, with a decline, of less than 1%. In the essence of brevity, this week's market action can be summed up with two themes: Europe (what else is new) and MF Global MF. Really, the two are related since it was European debt that played a part in the demise of MF Global. Even with MF Global essentially out of the way, Europe is not and this is just one more weekend in a long line where headline risk from across the pond is substantial. With that, let's have a look at some ETFs that will certainly be in play next week. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF GDXJ: All things considered, both of these ETFs had pretty nice weeks, due in large part to some very bullish comments on gold miners from hedge fund luminary David Einhorn. Time is running out for GDX and GDXJ to get their acts together for 2011 and plenty of smart money folks have said gold miners will start to outperform bullion. Tick tock... Global X Uranium ETF URA: One of this year's worst-performing and most controversial ETFs has a big week ahead of it next week with a deluge of uranium sector earnings reports. This is a chance for URA to at least pare its 2011 loss and give investors something to look forward to next year. Market Vectors Rare Earths/Strategic Metals ETF REMX: Molycorp MCP, the largest U.S.-based rare earths miner, steps into the earnings confessional next Thursday, and REMX has been acting slightly better lately. Not great, but not terrible. This is another example of a beaten down ETF with a big week ahead of it. Market Vectors Russia ETF RSX: Oil futures have moved higher for five straight weeks. Think that it isn't significant to the fortunes of RSX? Think again. The ETF has sharply outperformed the U.S. Oil Fund USO over the past month. You need oil futures when you can have RSX. iShares MSCI Italy Index Fund EWI: A frequent guest on these lists, here's why EWI makes it this week: (Prime Minister Silvio) Berlusconi is coming under mounting pressure at home and abroad as Italy struggles to avoid succumbing to the sovereign- debt crisis. His efforts suffered a setback yesterday when at least two lawmakers defected to the opposition., according to Bloomberg News.