"While watching the Olympics, I couldn't thinking about the investment opportunities of the various countries participating in the games," says exchange-traded fund expert Carl Delfeld.

Recognizing that this is not a "scientific" approach nor a primary basis for seriously determining one's asset allocation the editor of Around the World with ETFs speculates, "While it is admittedly a stretch, let's consider what an ETF porfolio of the top ten countries in the Beijing Olympics medal count would look like."

"I hope that while watching the Olympic games many investors were also reminded at how the world is changing and why they need a global portfolio to capture value and growth around the world.

"The U.S. did remarkably well across the board underscoring its role as the world's leading investment destination. China surged to win the most gold and reach the symbolic level of 100 medals.

"Quite an achievement that punctuates China's growing heft. With the Shanghai Composite down 55% this year, it has come down to earth and is interesting from a valuation perspective.

"Next comes Russia with a performance fueled by a strong Olympian tradition and petro dollars but perhaps a bit overshadowed by the Georgian fiasco. I will take a pass on this one even though it is off 36% since just May.

Carlton Delfeld reveals his latest global ETF picks and warns of leveraged funds.

Q. Carlton, in your last newsletter, you commented on the low valuations of several global markets, including Ireland, Singapore, UK, and Sweden, among others. Have you since added any ETFs from these regions to your portfolios?

A. Yes, I have added iShares MSCI South Africa Index (NYSEArca: EZA), iShares MSCI Singapore Index (NYSEArca: EWS), and the iShares MSCI United Kingdom (NYSEArca: EWU). South Africa is in part a currency and commodity play. The United Kingdom is very much predicated on global financial recovery, and Singapore will likely be a core holding.

Q. Each of these regions seems to have its own stress points right now. Do you think that South Africa is particularly vulnerable to a global slowdown? Hasn't Singapore been hit hard by the bear market in China? And isn't the UK just moving into a housing decline that may rival that of the US?

A. South Africa, China and the UK are all trading at attractive valuations. They all have challenges. The South Africa Rand has been a strong currency and will come back with higher gold prices, the UK is already moving through the housing issue and its financial-oriented market has already been hammered. Lastly, Singapore is a very high-quality China play.

Recent reports highlight U.S. investors' strong and continuing interest in foreign markets. In many cases, cash is being invested indirectly, often through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that mirror the currency-adjusted performance of publicly-traded shares in countries around the world.

While there are any number of fundamental reasons for choosing one nation's equity market over another, sometimes interesting opportunities crop up that seem, at first glance anyway, mainly technical in nature.

A comparison of the relative performance of the country funds for the United Kingdom and Germany, both based in Europe and subject to a number of the same macroeconomic influences, would seem to suggest such an opportunity.