Solar And Other ETFs On A Roll (GREK, KWT, TAN, TQQQ)

Shares of the following exchange traded funds are trading more than 19 percent higher than 90 days ago, and they are within 10 percent of their 52-week highs.

This set of ETFs provides a peek at areas of investor interest late in the third quarter, with the uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing, the government shutdown and debt ceiling fight, and the lead-up to the holiday shopping season.

Direxion Daily South Korea Bull 3X Shares KORU is trading about 30 percent higher year to date but more than 41 percent higher than 90 days ago. This fund has been around only since the beginning of May.

The nondiversified fund seeks investment results that correspond to 300 percent of the daily performance of the MSCI Korea 25/50 Index, which is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid-cap segments of the South Korea equity market.

Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF GREK is up more than 35 percent in the past quarter and last week reached a new 52-week high. Clear signs that the declining Greek economy may be reaching bottom and overall rising confidence in Europe have boosted this ETF.

The investment seeks to provide results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the FTSE/Athex 20 Capped Index, which is designed to reflect broad-based equity market performance in Greece. Top holdings include Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling CCH and National Bank of Greece NBG.

See also: Do Not Ignore the PIIGS

Guggenheim Solar ETF TAN is about 121 percent higher than at the beginning of the year . Some experts see eight percent or more further upside, as demand for photovoltaic cells rises and the Chinese government supports the industry.

The investment seeks results that correspond to the performance of the MAC Global Solar Energy Index. Top holdings in the ETF include Trina Solar TSL, First Solar FSLR and GT Advanced Technologies GTAT.

iShares MSCI Finland Capped Investable Market Index Fund EFNL is trading more than 19 percent higher than three months ago and less than 24 percent higher year-to-date. This ETF got a boost in September on news that Microsoft MSFT would buy the wireless device business of Nokia NOK.

The investment seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Finland IMI 25/50 Index, which is a custom index designed to measure broad-based equity market performance in Finland. The fund's top holdings include Nokia.

Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF KWT has risen about 30 percent in the past 90 days, despite pulling back about eight percent from a recent 52-week high. Solar Energy ETFs saw rising short interest in some of their top holdings in August, though China said it would expand solar capacity.

The investment seeks results that correspond to the price and yield of the Ardour Solar Energy Index by investing in equity securities of U.S. and foreign companies primarily engaged in the production of solar power. Top holdings include SunEdison SUNE and First Solar.

See also: ETF Outlook for October 31, 2013

ProShares Ultra MSCI Pacific ex-Japan UXJ is more than 21 percent higher over the past three months as it recovered from a sell-off in early summer. The share price is still about three percent lower than six months ago.

The non-diversified fund seeks investment results that correspond to twice the daily performance of the MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Index. The underlying index is a free-float-adjusted, market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the equity market performance of the developed markets in the eastern Pacific region, except for Japan.

ProShares UltraPro QQQ TQQQ is up more than 82 percent since the beginning of the year and hit a new multiyear high this week. This fund was unaffected by technical glitches the Nasdaq experienced back in August.

The investment seeks to provide results that correspond to three times the daily performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index, a modified market capitalization-weighted index that includes 100 of the largest non-financial domestic and international issues listed on the Nasdaq stock market.

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.