What's in a name?

EEM is the "emerging markets" ETF. The term "emerging markets" creates an air of international adventurism as investments are made in far off countries geared toward the economic development of India, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, etc.

Unfortunately, the reality is that a substantial proportion of the companies in the EEM reflect the economic health of the US/Western Europe and not of the developing world. The top 10 EEM holdings are:

6.73%	Samsung Electronics Co Ltd GDR Registered
3.62%	Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR
3.41%	Kookmin Bank ADR
2.51%	LUKOIL Sponsored ADR
2.46%	Posco ADR
2.25%	Korea Electric Power Corp ADR
2.13%	Siliconware Precision Industries Co ADR
1.98%	America Movil SA de CV Series L
1.78%	Petroleo Brasileiro SA Preferred ADR
1.78%	United Microelectronics Corp ADR
28.65%	Total

Investors buying into the EEM presumably to achieve returns uncorrelated with the US market are not doing their homework. Tech names like Samsung and TSM rise and fall vis-a-vis QCOM, NOK, AAPL, MOT, INTC. Owning PBR is not different from owning XOM, BP. Of the above 10, the only truly non-correlated names to the US market are KEP, KB and AMX.