A Look Ahead: This Week's ETFs to Watch

With enthusiasm for the third round of quantitative easing fading fast, stocks face significant hurdles in the week ahead as earnings and economic data points will take center stage. Earnings season is not yet in full bloom, but it is getting close and several marquee names have already delivered results.

This week's economic calendar is heavy as traders will be treated to the final second-quarter GDP reading from the Commerce Department, durable goods orders, personal spending and income data and new home sales data.

All of those data points have market-moving potential and some should impact the following ETFs.

iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction Index Fund ITB
Or the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF XHB. Both funds have posted runs that make each look like a growth, not a sector fund devoted to home builders and stocks like Home Depot HD. In the past month, ITB is up almost 15 percent. XHB is the "laggard: with a gain of "just" 11.4 percent.

Obviously useful plays on housing data releases, these two ETFs are also excellent gauges of risk appetite in the broader market. Naysayers will say ITB has more than doubled in the past year, questioning how much gas the ETF has left in its tank.

WisdomTree India Earnings ETF EPI
Or just about any ETF for that matter. India spent much of the second quarter as the problem child of the BRICS group and that is saying something since the quintet was unimpressive as a whole. Now, Asia's third-largest economy is showing signs of life, igniting significant rallies in EPI and rival funds along the way.

In an other effort to further open its market to foreign investment, the Indian government said Saturday it will cut taxes on interest earned by overseas holders of Indian bonds and also formalized a plan to reduce capital gains taxes on equities, Forbes reported.

Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX
The big story on the gold front is not the bullish action in the yellow metal. Rather, it is the fact that the miners are finally getting in on the act. Actually, the miners and ETFs such as the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF are outperforming bullion and ETFs such as the SPDR Gold Shares GLD.

Like the home builder ETFs, funds such as GDX have rallied hard and fast in a condensed period, making the question how much gas is left in the tank a relevant one. Remember this about GDX: Yes, the ETF is up more than 15 percent in the past month. However, it is only higher by 6.6 year-to-date and still in the red over the past year.