How to Profit from Spain's Election Results (EWP, EUO, DRR)

The market has reacted negatively to local and regional voting results out of Spain in which the country's ruling Socialist party suffered embarrassing losses. The elections followed a week of protests led by youths that are unhappy with the country's extremely high unemployment rate and are also against austerity measures planned by the government. The current Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is trying to push through reforms that it says are needed to improve Spain's finances by lowering the country's fiscal deficit. Investors have long feared that Spain may go the way of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, three countries with financial situations so dire that they each needed a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (

) and the European Union. As part of the conditions to qualify for those bailouts, each of the countries had to agree to reforms that were needed in order to get their finances back under control. The reforms have included austerity measures aimed at reducing spending while increasing taxes and have proved to be highly unpopular in the countries that have adopted them. Many observers of Spain's elections saw a vote against the ruling Socialist party as a vote against its planned austerity measures, so the results have raised concerns that the Spanish government may not have the political will to push through the reforms that the international community sees as essential. Although there have been calls for a general election, Prime Minister Zapatero has indicated that he would prefer to stay on until next year's general election in an attempt to weather the storm, push through reforms and hope that the Spanish economy improves before his party is put to the test nationally. If the Spanish government is able to see its planned reforms put in place and the measures are given the time needed to become effective, investors might look back on the aftermath of these elections as the time that they should have considered investing in the Spanish economy. The iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund

is an option for investors who want to invest in the Spanish market and would like the decreased risk associated with owning a wide range of Spanish stocks. If things turn out better than the market fears, the iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund (

) may prove to be a good investment. The lingering financial problems faced by countries like Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain has put the European Union's currency, the euro, under pressure. There is growing concern that countries like Greece that have already received bailouts will want to restructure the bailouts conditions or even default on their debts. There is also the fear that one or more of these countries may drop the euro as their national currency in order to have more control of their monetary policy. Investors who feel that the chances of such an occurrence are increasing may want to take a look at the ProShares UltraShort Euro

or the Market Vectors Double Short Euro ETN

. If the results of the Spanish election are an indication that the number of European Union citizens who see little value in keeping the euro as their national currency is increasing, these two ETFs that short the euro could start climbing higher along with voter dissatisfaction in the euro.