A second week of earnings did little to clarify the market’s direction despite quality reports out of a host of important American corporations. After another flat Monday, markets surged on Tuesday after a strong report from Apple boosted hopes for the consumer discretionary sector as well as the electronics market. However, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke gave his biannual testimony to Congress on Wednesday in which he called the outlook for America’s economy ‘unusually uncertain’. He also stated that the Fed was considering other measures in order to boost the economy such as removing the interest that banks receive from keeping deposits at the Reserve which pushed equities down sharply and reignited fears over a double dip. However, equities rebounded to finish the week stronglywith shares opening higher on Thusday and posting modest gains on Friday after GE announced that it was raising its dividend by 20%, helping to alleviate ongoing concerns over the company’s struggling capital division. This news helped to push the S&P 500 up by 30 points from its close on Wednesday to the end of trading on Friday to end another wild week on Wall Street.

This week, earnings season continues with a special focus on energy and defense companies which make up the bulk of the most important reports. Financials and biotechnology firms also look to be in focus with European banking giant Banco Santander reporting later this week and pharma giants TEVA, Merck, and Amgen all reporting as well. While only one major central bank has a decision this week, there is no shortage of financial data which is scheduled to be released. The main focus looks to be a variety of CPI reports in a few key industrialized economies which should help to signal who is winning the inflation/deflation debate; Germany, Australia, and Japan are all slated to report their figures. Below, we profile three ETFs that look to be in focus over the next several days as the summer earnings season continues:

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the large number of ETFs that are now available; too many too many choices spread among too many styles, too many sectors, too many asset classes, too many countries, etc. If you have particular preferences, such as a desire for growth stocks, fixed income, developing country investing, etc., that will considerably narrow the choices. But if your goal is simply to find ETFs likely to perform well, whatever type they may be, you face a challenge. Different asset classes and different markets have different trading dynamics (compare commodities with fixed income, for example), so even technical models that work well with U.S. stocks may not be quite so effective with ETFs.

There are, however, some aspects of price performance that may be universal. I tried to tune into one of these with a simple model I created on www.StockScreen123.com a simple model that, in essence, follows Mr. Market around and picks up ETFs he generally likes but which fell out of his overstuffed pockets. In other words, I'm looking to buy on pauses in a broad positive trend.

Several times a week, Seeking Alpha's Jason Aycock asks money managers about their single highest-conviction position - what they would own (or short) if they could choose just one stock or ETF.

---

Alejandro Paschalides is founding principal of Carina Capital, a Philadelphia-based boutique global macro hedge fund specializing in the energy sector. Before founding Carina Capital, he worked most recently as an analyst covering healthcare and business services for private-equity firm Pharos Capital Group.

Which single asset class are you most bullish (or bearish) about in the coming year? What ETF position would you choose to best capture that?