The folks at SPDR published a report/marketing piece about several macro themes that could be coming down the pike and how SPDR ETFs fit in to those macro themes. The report was called "SPDR ETF Guide To Changing Markets." I tweeted the link yesterday but have since removed it in case the report was not meant for widespread distribution. I will, however, recap what was discussed.

The first macro theme discussed was called "Opportunities In A Recovering Global Economy." For anyone believing the global economy is recovering, SPDR suggests looking at international small cap, international mid cap and emerging small cap. SPDR has funds for all three with the respective symbols being GWX, MDD and EWX. They say that small and mid caps outperform large caps coming off the bottom, and foreign outperforms domestic.

by Barbarian Capital

So let's chat about inflation, and investing for inflation (this blog is not investment advice).

In the business of asset management, bond investing may not get much love, but it can be as vital a component of an investor’s portfolio as equities. Fixed income investing isn’t nearly as sexy as stock picking, but as many investors have learned in recent years, a well-rounded bond allocation can significantly reduce the overall volatility of a portfolio.

As global equity markets crumbled in 2008, many low-risk fixed income funds surged, as investors flocked in droves to the safe haven of Treasuries. Equity markets have, for the most part, rebounded sharply in 2009, and demand for Treasury ETFs has plummeted. But not all bond ETFs had a disappointing 2009. In fact, many have posted big gains, outperforming even broad-based equity funds. Below is a look at ten of the best-performing bond ETFs in 2009: