Much as in the case of April, the top exchange traded funds (ETFs) centered mostly around commodities. However, there were still some surprises: B2B Internet HOLDRs (AMEX: BHH) and Market Vectors Russia (AMEX: RSX). The funds returned 25% and 17.6%, respectively.
The strong performance of RSX is just the latest good news for a country that's currently enjoying a 10-year economic expansion. Its gross domestic product has soared to $1.7 trillion in 2007, from less than $200 billion in 1999.
But can Russia sidestep its minefields? The country is rife with corruption, prices are soaring and there's a possibility of political instability in the future. Some Kremlin officials wold also like to diversify the economy beyond its energy exports. On paper, it looks like they're going in the right direction. Russia has even set a goal for itself of being one of the world's top five economies by 2020.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, for his part, says he will concentrate on economic and social policy to ensure that the macro-economic stability achieved when he was in office remains.
The performance of BHH hinges on just two companies: Ariba Inc. (NSDQ: ARBA) and Internet Capital Group (NSDQ: ICGE), which are 80% and 20% of assets, respectively. Ariba likely delivered the boost to the fund after an analyst upgraded the company to "outperform" up from "market perform." The analyst said the company is likely to beat Wall Street estimates in fiscal 2009. The company sells software that helps manage a company's supply chain.
