Four Small-Cap ETFs With Big Potential For The Rest Of 2011

There's no getting around the fact that large-caps and blue chips have played a pivotal role in the bullish tenor of equity markets thus far in 2011. Small-caps haven't been slouches either. The Russell 2000 is the only major U.S. index to take out its February peak. In fact, the index made a new all time high at 859 earlier this week. Beyond that, small-caps are a great way to gauge the sentiment of fund managers and other members of the smart money crowd. If they're loading up on this asset class, chances are they feel pretty bullish about stocks in general, so the time may be right to have a look at some small-cap ETFs with big potential for the rest of 2011. 1) IQ Global Agribusiness Small Cap ETF CROP: Fresh off the ETF farm (pun intended) CROP is the first small-cap equity-based ETF that is a play on the farm theme. CROP holds 52 stocks scattered across six ag-related subsectors. In a market environment that has already shown it is conducive to big returns by farm-related plays, CROP has the potential to be one of 2011's best new ETFs of ANY stripe. 2) IQ Canada Small Cap ETF CNDA: Just over a year old and having surpassed the $100 million in assets under management market earlier this year, CNDA is arguably the best Canada-specific ETF. Why? Because when we want Canadian exposure, we should want it as a way of playing materials and energy, and those sectors account for more than 74% of CNDA's weight. 3) Market Vectors Latin America Small-Cap Index ETF LATM: One year and one day old, LATM has attracted an admirable $29.5 in AUM since inception and with 25% exposure to materials, the ETF is a compelling play on a sector vital to the region the ETF tracks. Two things to note with LATM: First, three countries, Brazil, Mexico and Chile, combine for over 72% of the ETF's weight. Second, one other country gets another 18.7%. That country is...wait for it...Canada. Go figure. 4) WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Fund DGS: It's only slight hyperbole to say that one of the great mysteries of the 2010 bull market for emerging markets ETFs is how DGS went ignored by so many pundits as it just kept moving higher and higher. It looks like that theme is repeating itself again this year as DGS is within pennies of taking out its January peak and no one is talking about it. Great ETF with exposure to 18 countries, just remember that Taiwan and South Korea combine for over 30% of DGS' weight.