Breaking Down Ireland ETF

It is mid-March and that means two things, March Madness and St. Patty's Day. The latter is a reason to dress up in green, drink beer, and eat some bangers and mash. There wasn't much celebrating in Ireland a few years ago as the country was dealing with major issues related to the financial crisis. But today, the member of the PIIGS group is now one sporting one of the best economies in Europe. Over the next few years economists expect Ireland's GDP to grow by 3 to 4 percent, well above the less than 2 percent expected for Europe as a whole. Americans looking to invest in the continued rebound in the Emerald Isle can turn to the iShares MSCI Ireland Capped ETF EIRL. The ETF is made up of 25 Irish stocks that are fairly diverse throughout the materials, consumer staples, industrials, and financial sectors. While the ETF may be diverse as far as sectors, it is heavily weighted in the top holdings with CRH Plc CRH making up 21% of the portfolio. The building materials company has been on a roller coaster ride lately and EIRL has followed a similar pattern. The other top holdings include Kerry Group Plc and Bank of Ireland making up 22 percent combined. After a huge rally from 2012 to early 2014, the ETF took a breather and pulled back through most of 2014 as it lagged many of its peers. Over the last few months the ETF has been forming a based and broke the downtrend line in early 2015. From a pure technical view it appears EIRL is ready to start a new longer-term uptrend. And if not, at least go enjoy a pint of Guinness.