Small Caps: the Direxion Russell 2000 Bullish 3X ETF (NYSEARCA:TNA) and the Direxion Russell 2000 Bearish 3X ETF (NYSEARCA:TZA)

I decided to hit up the never disappointing emerging markets. Those are always good for some volatility, right? Here”s what happened with the Direxion Emerging Markets Bull 3X Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:EDC) and the Direxion Emerging Markets Bear 3X Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:EDZ):

Here”s what happened with the Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bull 3X Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:JNUG) and the Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3X Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:JDST):

I presume (without running the numbers) that it would be especially profitable on VIX pairs like the ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSEARCA:SVXY) and the ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSEARCA:UVXY)

The PowerShares DB German Bund Futures ETNs are based on the DB USD Bund Futures Index (the “Bund Futures Index”) which is intended to measure the performance of a long position in Euro-Bund Futures.

The ETNs are senior unsecured obligations issued by Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch that are linked to the month-over-month performance of the DB USD Bund Futures Index.

The DB USD Bund Futures Index is intended to measure the performance of a long position in Euro-Bund Futures. The underlying assets of Euro-Bund Futures are Federal Republic of Germany-government issued debt securities (“Bunds”) with a remaining term to maturity of not less than 8 years and 6 months and not more than 10 years and 6 months as of the futures contract delivery date. The returns of each ETN are obtained by combining the returns of the relevant futures index with the returns of the TBill index, less investor fees. Investors can buy and sell the ETNs on the NYSE Arca exchange or receive a cash payment at the scheduled maturity or early redemption based on the performance of the index less investor fees. The issuer has the right to redeem the ETNs at the repurchase value at any time

The Inflation ETNs and Deflation ETNs are based on the DBIQ Duration-Adjusted Inflation Index (the “long inflation index”) and the DBIQ Duration-Adjusted Deflation Index (the “short inflation index”, together with the long inflation index, the “inflation indexes”), respectively, which are intended to capture movements, whether up or down, in US inflation expectations or deflation expectations, as applicable.

The ETNs are senior unsecured obligations issued by Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch that are linked to the month-over-month returns, whether positive or negative, on the DBIQ Duration-Adjusted Inflation Index and the DBIQ Duration-Adjusted Deflation Index.

The inflation indices aim to track changes in the market”s expectations of future inflation implied by the difference in yields between Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) and U.S. Treasury bonds with approximately equivalent terms to maturity. A combination of offsetting short and long notional positions in TIPS and Treasury Bond Futures is one way in which this expectation of future inflation may be measured. If the market”s expectation of future inflation increases, TIPS are likely to outperform U.S. Treasury bonds with approximately equivalent terms to maturity. If the market”s expectation of future inflation decreases, TIPS are likely to underperform U.S. Treasury bonds with approximately equivalent terms to maturity. Therefore, to gain exposure to the market”s expectation that future inflation will increase, the Inflation ETNs take a notional long position in TIPS and a notional short position in U.S. Treasury bonds with approximately equivalent terms to maturity. To gain exposure to the market”s expectation that future inflation will decrease, the Deflation ETNs take a notional short position in TIPS and a notional long position in U.S. Treasury bonds with approximately equivalent terms to maturity.

Looking at the GLD [GLD 157.84 0.09 (+0.06%) ], Hougan says the IAU [IAU 15.84 0.01 (+0.06%) ] holds exactly the same thing. “It’s plenty liquid and owning it is about half the cost of the GLD.”

Sector Widely Traded Hougan’s Alternative
Financials XLF IYF

Hougan says this is something of a popularity content. “People know the XLF [XLF 14.34 0.205 (+1.45%) ].” However, the XLF only tracks large caps. (Click here to see top holdings on Yahoo! Finance.) If you want exposure to the entire banking sector Hougan recommends the IYF [IYF 54.20 0.61 (+1.14%) ] for “the full spectrum.”

Sector Widely Traded Hougan’s Alternative
Junk Bonds JNK HYG

Hougan says most investors don’t know that JNK [JNK 38.68 0.13 (+0.34%) ] is further out the junk spectrum. “The HYG [HYG 89.29 0.16 (+0.18%) ] holds slightly higher and safer securities,” he says.

Sector Widely Traded Hougan’s Alternative
Dividend Equity DVY HDV

“DVY [DVY 55.89 0.40 (+0.72%) ] was first, so everyone knows it,” explains Hougan. And the ticker is memorable. However, he explains that HDV [HDV 59.20 0.21 (+0.36%) ] focusses on higher yielding securities as well as lower volatility securities making it preferable for many retail investors.

Medicaid-related stocks such as Amerigroup [AGP 64.99 2.59 (+4.15%) ] and Molina [MOH 22.46 1.14 (+5.35%) ] also jumped.

The Teucrium Corn Fund (NYSE: CORN) provides investors unleveraged direct exposure to corn

The Teucrium Natural Gas Fund (NYSE: NAGS) provides investors unleveraged direct exposure to natural gas

The Teucrium WTI Crude Oil Fund (NYSE: CRUD) provides investors unleveraged direct exposure to crude oil

The Teucrium Soybean Fund (NYSE: SOYB) will provide investors unleveraged direct exposure to soybeans

The Teucrium Sugar Fund (NYSE: CANE) provides investors unleveraged direct exposure to sugar

The Teucrium Wheat Fund (NYSE: WEAT) provides investors unleveraged direct exposure to wheat

cities will be able to capitalize and play to their strengths. Some ETFs looking

to capture this continued growth include:

•iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI), down 28.4% year-to-date
•SPDR S&P China (GXC), down 31.9% year-to-date
•PowerShares Golden Dragon Halter USX China (PGJ), down 32.9% year-to-date
•NETS Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (SNO), down 17.4% since May 14 inception
•Claymore Alpha/China Small Cap (HAO), down 26.9% since Jan. 30 inception

ProShares RAFI Long / Short (RALS)
This ETF employs a long/short investment strategy with a twist; its underlying index is based on the RAFI methodology, and unlike the traditional market cap-weighted approach, this strategy determines allocations based on a firm’s book value, income, sales, and dividends [see Does Your Portfolio Need A RAFI ETF?]. RALS is designed with an absolute return objective, and introduces short selling to the equation in an attempt to capitalize off of discrepancies between the weightings suggested between market capitalization weighting strategies and the RAFI methodology. In essence, the fund will establish long positions in stocks for which the RAFI weighting is larger than the cap weighting and short positions in those for which the cap weighting is larger than the RAFI weighting. This ETF is rebalanced monthly and the universe of potential constituents consists of the 1,000 largest U.S. stocks by market capitalization and the 1,000 largest U.S. stocks by RAFI weight [see Under The Hood Of RALS].

Market Neutral Equity ETN (CSMN)
This fairly new fund is linked to the HS Market Neutral Index Powered by HOLT Index, a benchmark that includes equal long and short positions in stocks from a handful of different developed markets. CSMN selects potential constituents from a universe of the 275 largest North American stocks, 300 largest European stocks, and 175 largest Japanese stocks. This ETF narrows down the list to 75 long and 75 short positions using the HOLT scoring methodology, which considers whether stocks appear to be overvalued or undervalued based on stock market momentum and corporate performance factors. The underlying index is further separated into “buckets” of different sectors and regions. CSMSN distinguishes itself from other market neutral ETFs by presenting investors with a long/short strategy that is also diversified across both geographic regions as well as economic sectors [see CSMN Holdings].

Mars Hill Global Relative Value (GRV)
This actively managed ETF seeks to generate consistent positive returns in excess of the average annual return of the MSCI World Index. GRV employs a “relative value” approach, which identifies the perceived attractiveness of one investment versus another by considering expected risk, anticipated return, and liquidity. This fund combines long positions in the most attractive country, sector and industry ETFs with equal dollar amounts short in the least attractive country, sector and industry ETFs [see Using ETFs To Access Alternatives]. This “ETF of ETFs” offers an appealing market neutral approach along with the added benefits of global diversification. GRV however may turn away cost-conscious investors, seeing as how this is the most expensive fund in the Long-Short ETFdb Category, charging a steep 1.49% all-in expense ratio.

QuantShares U.S. Market Neutral Beta Fund (BTAH)
This is a fairly new offering from QuantShares, a newcomer to the ETF industry, which employs a long/short strategy based on volatility. BTAH goes long stocks with the highest betas and shorts the ones with the lowest betas–essentially generating returns equal to the spread between high volatility stocks and low volatility securities. Although this ETF is technically market neutral, its volatility-based approach makes it more appealing to bullish investors looking for downside protection, as the strategy can be expected to generally perform better when markets are climbing, and struggle when stocks fall. QuantShares also offers a Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund (BTAL), which swaps the long and short positions.

QuantShares U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Momentum Fund (NOMO)
This QuantShares products allows for investors to bet that recent laggards in the market will outperform stocks that have recently performed well [see QuantShares Debuts Market Neutral ETFs]. NOMO achieves market neutral by establishing long positions in companies the lowest momentum scores and shorts the companies with the highest momentum scores. Momentum is defined as the total return of a security over the first twelve of the last 13 months; high momentum stocks are those with the best performance over that period while low momentum stocks are those with low total returns over that period. QuantShares also offers a Market Neutral Momentum Fund (MOM) that maintains long exposure to stocks with high momentum and short exposure to those with low momentum scores.