Select Fund Sell-Offs in Europe (EWP, EWI, EWG, EWU, EWQ, IEV, IRL, SNF, GF, RNE, CEE, EWL)

It is not hard to find ADRs which have sold off by about 50%, and some are worse than that out of Europe.  These shares are getting the double-whammy now with a declining market and a declining currency.  Throw in that the Euro is now the Peso in the eyes of the global safe-haven seekers and that the Europeans are becoming less and less capable of dealing with a bailout.  It’s a recipe for disaster.  We wanted to take a look at some of the ETFs and closed-end funds which track various countries and/or regions in the Eurozone.  Frankly, some of the market performance figures are starting to become shocking.  We haven’t even had a classic blow-off panic.  Of the ETFs, we looked at the iShares MSCI Spain Index (NYSE: EWP), iShares MSCI Italy Index (NYSE: EWI), iShares MSCI Germany Index (NYSE: EWG), iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index (NYSE: EWU), iShares MSCI France Index (NYSE: EWQ), and then the broader iShares S&P Europe 350 Index Fund (NYSE: IEV).  In closed-end funds we looked at The New Ireland Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IRL), The Ibero-America Fund, Inc (NYSE: SNF), New Germany Fund Inc. (NYSE: GF), Morgan Stanley Eastern Europe Fund Inc (NYSE: RNE), and then the Central Europe & Russia Fund Inc. (NYSE: CEE).  Even the MSCI Switzerland Index Fund (NYSE: EWL) is off big.

To keep it simple, we focused solely on what use the be the WEBS and are now the iShares.  That might not be fair to other ETF and fund families out there, but it keeps it consistent.  As for the closed-end funds, those were effectively picked at random so some other funds are likely to be better or worse in performance.

As far as the performance, we looked at the current price of each fund, the 52-week range, and then how much each current price is down from highs.

SELECT COUNTRY/REGIONAL ETFs

• iShares MSCI Spain Index (NYSE: EWP) $32.19; $32.06 to $52.67 so it is down almost 39% from highs.
• iShares MSCI Italy Index (NYSE: EWI) $13.56; $13.72 – $21.77 so it is down almost 38% from highs.
• iShares MSCI Germany Index (NYSE: EWG) $18.25; $16.75 – $23.40 so it is down 22% from highs.
• iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index (NYSE: EWU) $13.40, $12.34 to $17.20 so it is down 22% from highs.
• iShares MSCI France Index (NYSE: EWQ) $19.62, $19.21 to $27.32 so its is down 28% from highs.
• S&P Europe 350 Index Fund (NYSE: IEV) $31.15; $29.40 to $41.05 so it is down 24% from highs.

SELECT CLOSED-END COUNTRY & REGION FUNDS

• The New Ireland Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IRL) $5.88; $5.78 – $8.75 so it is down close to 33.5% of the highs.
• The Ibero-America Fund, Inc (NYSE: SNF) $; $4.85 – $8.07, so it is down 38% from its highs.
• New Germany Fund Inc. (NYSE: GF) $10.44; $7.95 – $13.39, so it is down 22% from its highs.
• Morgan Stanley Eastern Europe Fund Inc (NYSE: RNE) $13.24; $9.77 to $17.93 so it is down 35% from highs.
• Central Europe & Russia Fund Inc. (NYSE: CEE) $29.01 ; $20.21 – $38.93 so it is down 25.5% from highs.

Switzerland is supposed to be one of the last bastions of safety.  Yet the MSCI Switzerland Index Fund (NYSE: EWL) is at $18.92 versus a 52-week range of $17.00 to $23.63 so its shares are down “only” just under 20% from highs.

Oh well, at least it is now suddenly cheaper for Americans than it has been in years to travel once you are inside of Europe.

JON C. OGG