Punished By Ireland: ETFs To Avoid During Ireland's Debt Crisis

Irish eyes aren't smiling these days. At least not the ones that focus on the emerald isle's fiscal well-being because, well, the country is quite ill on a fiscal basis. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen told Parliament today that his country has been rejected by global bond markets from further borrowing and that Ireland must find other avenues to avoid an embarrassing bailout. Ireland's fiscal woes have been toxic news for global equity markets and avoiding the iShares MSCI Ireland Capped Investable Market Index Fund

is an obvious move, but there are other ETFs falling in sympathy. Here's a brief list of ETFs to avoid thanks to the Irish debt news. 1) SPDR S&P International Small Cap ETF

: Ireland only gets a scant allocation in GWX, but small-caps have faltered recently and the ETF's exposure to other European nations makes this a fund to avoid until Ireland gets its fiscal house in order. 2) iShares MSCI EMU Index Fund

: EMU only tracks countries in the European Monetary Union, so it is more geared toward Germany, France, etc., but Ireland's woes rattle countries like Italy and Spain and that's enough to advise against being long EMU. 3) Vanguard European ETF

: A broad play on Europe, including Ireland, there is little reason to be involved with VGK, which has retreated more than 7% in just the past week.